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There is no doubt that the role of services has increased substantially in contemporary economies, in terms of their output, employment, and importance as inputs to other sectors. But the contribution that they make to innovation and competitiveness remains largely unexamined, by analysts and politicians alike. This is reflected in the images of services as a residual, tertiary sector, composed of firms who are laggards where it comes to developing new technologies and techniques. These images might be justified as regards some service industries-but it is certainly out of touch with the reality of others...