【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 濟信息產(chǎn)業(yè)部 .比利時國外投資 .1982年報告， 布魯塞爾： 經(jīng)濟信息產(chǎn)業(yè)部， 1982. [11]拉達，怡富 .信息技術與服務 .在嘉瑞里妮的（編輯），新興服務經(jīng)濟， 1987. [12]理查森河，瑞妮 .研究界別分組服務貿(mào)易理論 .在嘉瑞里妮的（編輯），新興服務經(jīng)濟，1987. [13]里德爾，德勒 .服務為主導增長 — 在世界發(fā)展的服務業(yè) .紐約：普雷格出版社， 1986. [14]薩皮爾，盧茨 .非要素服務貿(mào)易：過去趨勢和當前問題 .世界銀行工作參謀文件，第 410頁，華盛頓：世界銀行， . [15]薩皮爾，盧茨 .服務貿(mào)易：經(jīng)濟因素與發(fā)展有關的問題 .世界銀行工作參謀文件，第 480頁，華盛頓：世界銀行 ， . [16]薩皮爾，恩約 .服務貿(mào)易： 80年代的政策問題 .哥倫比亞世界商業(yè)雜志， 1982年秋季 . [17]謝爾普，瑞克 .越過工業(yè)化優(yōu)勢的全球服務經(jīng)濟 .紐約：普雷格出版社， 1981. [18]斯里烏佤吉妮 .比利時近期外商直接投資和撤資趨勢 .經(jīng)濟學雜志管理，第一卷，第 1頁，比利時， 1985. 1 Some Aspects of the International Trade in Services: An Empirical Approach by Karine Segebarth* Abstract： In this article, an attempt is made to achieve as plete an approach as possible to the phenomenon of international trade in services, which can take on different forms. The article starts with a description of crossborder services transactions as recorded in the balance of payments statistics. This is followed by a closer look at foreign investment transactions in the services sector. Finally, the importance of those services which are incorporated into the trade in goods is gauged. The basic method used is that of international parisons,but where these are impossible owing to a lack of statistical material, the specific situation of Belgium and Luxembourg is examined. Keywords： INTERNATIONAL trade。INVESTMENTS。COMMERCIAL policy。BALANCE of trade。FINANCE。TERMS of trade。COMPETITION international INTRODUCTION The disparities in the current account balance of industrialised countries are usually studied in terms of their 39。visible39。 trade , the redressing of the current account is to a great extent influenced by the changes that occur in the balance on 39。invisible39。 trade, that is, the trade in services. For instance, the world39。s leading producer of services, the United States, was able to limit the deficit in its current account in the early 1980s by using the considerable surplus in its services balance。 unfortunately for the United States, this surplus too has been shrinking in recent years. In recent decades, countries with a traditional industrial base have increasingly focused on the services economy, enabling them to apply their services account surplus to varying degrees to pensate for their visible trade balance deficits. This is true of typical mature economies,such as the United Kingdom, and the BelgiumLuxembourg Economic Union (BLEU). Countries with a more modern industrial base are also beginning to expand their international services activities. Japan is making no secret of its intention to turn its services balance deficit into a surplus in the short term. All of this makes the study of the international trade in services a vital factor in the analysis of intemational transactions on a worldwide scale. This article is an attempt to provide an overview of the availability of information on intemational services in their various aspects, and to point to the gaps in that information. Wherever possible, the basic method will be intemational parisons. Where intemationally parable data are too scarce, or too general, the specific situation in Belgium and Luxembourg will be studied. The first section defines the concept of 39。international services39。, with an examination of the practicability of (international) trade in problems involved in collecting data on intemational services are also dealt with. Subsequent sections will take a closer look at three of the forms of intemational services flow that emerged in the first section:crossborder service flows as recorded in the balance of payments。foreign investment in the services sector。 and services incorporated in the flow of goods. I. DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT OF INTERNATIONAL SERVICES – THE PROBLEMS 2 OF STATISTICAL MATERIAL In Studying the phenomenon of 39。international trade in services39。, two aspects must be deflned: 39。services39。 and 39。intemational merchantability39。 of services (subsection(i)). In delimiting our field of investigation,however, we must take into account the availability of information (subsection (ii)). (i) Concepts and properties of international services A substantial number of publications have already been devoted to the meaning of 39。services39。. All the scientists who have studied today39。s services sector agree that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve a consensus as to the meaning and the limits of the term 39。services39。. Shelp [1981] es to the conclusion that the only satisfactory solution is a vague description: an extremely heterogeneous group of economic activities often having little in mon other than that their principal outputs are for the most part intangible products. The most important question in this connection is when services are (intemationally) merchantable. In balance of payments terms,intemational trade takes place when goods or services are exchanged between residents of different countries. In the case of trade in goods,the goods are physically moved from the exporting country to the importing country. The basic principle is the same for services, but the transactions are much more varied, and cannot be characterised in the same simple manner as countrytocountry movements of goods. In addition, many authors (especially in the earlier days) cite the personal contact between supplier and customer as the most important characteristic of services. This is linked up to the dependency of services trading on the buildingup of a personal relationship between producer and customer, which gives rise to a differentiation in terms of price and quality, which in turn constitutes an extra purchasing (or sales) argument, in addition to price [Edvinsson, 1985]. This need for personal contact makes merchantability between parties based in different geographical locations difficult in practice. This verdict should, however, be qualified, for t