The Changing Role of the Service Sector in an Innovation-Oriented Economy

The development of a service economy and the more and more noticeable phenomenon of servicization have become inseparable elements in the evolution of the modern economy. The goal of this paper is to analyse the impact of servicization on selected economies, both in terms of GDP and employment structure, as well as on changes in foreign trade. The secondary, but still important aim is to examine the relationship between servicization and innovation processes. Based on the conducted research, it can be stated that the process of servicization occurs in both developed post-industrial economies and increasingly often in developing countries. Moreover, the analysis of the relationship between the general level of innovation in the economy and the degree of its servicization, showed that in many countries higher innovation is often associated with a stronger role of the service sector in the economy. The dynamics of structural change taking place in the “deagrarianization-deindustrialization-servicization” chain is therefore substantially influenced by technological progress.