摘要：Producer or intermediate-demand services enhance the efficiency of operation and the value of output at various stages in the production process. All firms, whether specializing in the fabrication of goods or in the provision of services, employ a range of producer services as inputs into their production functions. The more advanced or modern the "value chain" (such as, the production process) of a firm, the more numerous and more complicated will be the links in the chain and the greater will be the importance of service inputs (Porter 1985; 1990). Indeed, a wide range of empirical evidence has demonstrated that producer services occupy a major and expanding role both within firms (Britton 1990; Quinn 1993) and within national, regional and metropolitan economies (Beyers 1989; Coffey 1994).
