A Study of the Development Strategies for Taiwan''s Knowledge-Intensive Service Industries

• Main Authors: Lee, Ruey-Chu, 李瑞珠
• Other Authors: Hwang, Ing-San
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2004
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/50018219920230313264

碩士 === 國立臺北大學 === 企業管理學系碩士在職專班 === 92 === 　　As is found in the development of several of the world''s major economies , as per capital GDP increases, principal demand shifts from food (primary industry) to industrial or manufacturing products (secondary industry), and then to intangible goods or services (tertiary industry). In other words, such shifts in demand pattern reflect the evolution of the economy''s dominant sector from agriculture to industry (manufacturing), then to service industry as the economy reaches the matured stage or the post-industrial era. In the matured economy, knowledge-intensive service industry leads other sectors as the main driver of economic growth. 　　Being a leading sector in the post-industrial era, service industry plays a pivotal role in economic growth, job creation and increase of government tax revenue. Among various sectors of the service industry, wholesale and retail trade, food, beverages and lodging, personal and social services, etc., are termed as traditional non-knowledge-intensive services, while transportation and communications, banking and insurance, R&D and design, health and medical care, culture and creativity, education, recreation and entertainment, engineering consultancy for research and development, and so on, are viewed as professional knowledge-intensive services. 　　If measured by services’ share of GDP as an indicator for economic maturity, the development of Taiwan''s service industry reached the stage equivalent to that of the advanced industrial countries in the late 1990s. However, Taiwan is still lagging somewhat behind those countries in terms of labor absorption by the service sector. 　　The government must adopt two main approaches to reducing this gap. On the one hand, it has sought to design public policy with a view to modernizing the traditional service sector, increasing its knowledge intensity, maintaining its sound development, and enabling it to continue to absorb low-skilled or unskilled labor in order to relieve the pressure of structural unemployment. On the other hand, it should adopt a more proactive strategy to develop knowledge-intensive service industries with the aim of promoting overall economic growth and creating more job opportunities for highly educated and well trained manpower. 　　In 2003, service industry in Taiwan accounted for 67.8% of GDP, close to the ratios of the advanced industrial countries. However, Taiwan''s service industry only contributed 57.9% of its total job creation, much lower than the two-thirds ratio in other industrial countries. This indicates the shortcoming of the service industry in terms of jobs creation. At the same time, Taiwan''s knowledge-intensive services accounted for only 31.0% of GDP, much lower than the 40% or more of other industrial countries. Therefore, the government should accelerate the development of knowledge-intensive service industry to create more job opportunities for high-quality manpower, and therefore alleviate unemployment pressure. Meanwhile, the development of knowledge-intensive service industries needs to be brought into line with that of high-tech industries, so as to bring about mutually beneficial development for the two industries and create sustainable economic growth. 　　Based on the above-mentioned observations, and with review and study of existing literatures, the author examines the trend and necessity of developing knowledge-intensive service industries in Taiwan. With reference to the practices and merits of the advanced industrial countries and views gathered from workshops and in-depth interviews with experts, this paper then presents feasible strategies for the development of Taiwan''s knowledge-intensive services after evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of internal and external conditions and probing into the role of government and problems arising from such development. Keywords: knowledge-intensive; services