International services: perspectives at century’s end

As the twentieth century draws to a close, trade in services has begun to dominate the economies of many nations. International trade in services has also grown significantly, yet little research has been undertaken to understand international services. Theory lags practice by a considerable degree. This paper examines the international trade and services marketing literature, develops a definition and classification scheme of four types of international services, discusses recent trends in international services data and presents some perspectives on the future of international services.