ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to explore the contributions of producer services in general, and advanced producer services (APS) in particular, to economic regeneration in developed nations. Producer services are intermediate functions that serve as inputs into the production of goods or other services, whilst APS, upon which much of the recent literature on producer services concentrates, are more specifically those ‘complex knowledgeintensive business services designed as direct inputs to firms’ (Moulaert and Todtling 1995a: 102). Here, therefore, and through a review of the vast literature on producer services and APS which has emerged since the 1980s, this chapter will reveal some of the complexities involved in understanding the interactive dynamic relationships between such services and the rest of the economy. First, the size and growth of producer services and APS will be examined, second, the location of these services will be explored, and third and finally, their contributions to economic development will be analysed.
