Research project SS/D8/03 (Research action SS)
Analysis of supply dynamics: the objective of the project is to carry out an industrial-economic analysis of the supply of services to companies, to determine the impact of the single market on the dynamics of that supply and on Belgium's position.
The following problems are studied to this end:
(i) Interaction between service suppliers and manufacturers in processing industries.
(ii) Degree of differentiation in the offered services: are we moving towards greater standardisation or customisation?
(iii) The market structures of the services and changes in these in the course of recent years, in particular:
- the degree of concentration and barriers to entry;
- concentration changes due to mergers, acquisitions and absorption of companies;
- direct foreign investment and changes in ownership structures.
(iv) The strengths and weaknesses of Belgian suppliers with respect to their European competitors, with particular concentration on profitability, added value and exports and imports as international performance criteria.
(v) The international strategies pursued by Belgian firms with the aim of opening up services and in the light of the appropriate geographical market (including the impact of the European internal market). The sectors to be studied will be tackled simultaneously in a statistical and dynamic manner in accordance with the problems to be investigated.
