ABSTRACT
As a fairly simple illustration of this problem I want to discuss some aspects of two dynamic processes in developed economies which have greatly accelerated in recent decades: the increase in female participation in the labour market on the one hand and the growth of the service sector (or, more specifically, of service sector employment) on the other. Both these well-known trends are quite general (in developed economies) as can be seen from Table 7.1, which provides the basis for all empirical observations and calculations in this paper. In each of the fifteen European countries covered in the table (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, the FRG, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK) the share of women (columns 1 and 2) and of service sector employment (columns 3 and 4) has risen quite distinctly between around 1971 and around 1986; on average (simple averages) from 32.5 per cent to 39.6 per cent for women and from 49.5 per cent to 61.5 per cent for tertiary employment.
