Financial and Consultancy Services: Issues in International Trade

This book provides an in-depth analysis of financial services and consultancy services, both in the Indian and international contexts. The main objective is to understand more fully the contribution of these sectors to the process of economic development since it is in these services that modern technologies are most often introduced at a rapid pace. The outcome of simultaneous studies conducted in the Netherlands and in India, the book is well illustrated with examples from countries such as South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Among the topics discussed are: The role governments can play in facilitating economic activities. The specific characteristics of services that are traded and the determining factors of this trade. The costs and benefits of alternative policies for the optimal utilisation of the international division of labour in financial and consultancy services. The possibilities of cooperation in economic exhange in the framework of north-south and south-south ties in international trade. Overall, the contributors express concern about the recent emphasis on the paradigm of liberalisation as an objective in itself while advocating alternative measures for a more strategic and discriminate approach toward economic development. Timely and empirical, with a strong emphasis on current policy issues, this book will attract a wide readership among students, scholars and policy-makers in the areas of international trade and finance, the banking industry, and professionals involved in financial and consultancy services.