ABSTRACT
This chapter contributes to the burgeoning literature through examining the role of the service sector in regional economic resilience. It examines the relationship between employment changes in both knowledge-based services, characterised as business services, and consumption-based services, characterised as personal services. In advanced economies, mainly due to the increasing mobility of capital and globalisation, the nature of competitive advantage for regions has shifted away from being based on endowments of natural resources towards focusing on the knowledge resources of a location. Consumption-based sectors cover a broad range of activities including the retailing of goods and services, restaurants and bars, museums and cinemas. This sub-group is further divided into two broad groups: retail services and leisure services. These sectors contribute both directly and indirectly to regional economies; directly in terms of employment and GDP generated, and indirectly through several non-pecuniary mechanisms.
