RESER is a network of research groups and individuals active in services research and policy formulation, mainly located in European countries, but not only. The Association was established in 1988 at a time when service employment and industries were under-researched and there was a limited understanding of the role of services in economic and social restructuring. RESER members come from diverse disciplinary backgrounds: economics, management sciences, geography, sociology, psychology, political sciences and planning. Most are based in universities and independent research institutes across Europe, but some are employed in private firms, as researchers or consultants.



RESER is active in many European countries and elsewhere. The Association welcomes individuals or new research teams that wish to participate in RESER’s activities. Many of those involved with the work of RESER have a European-wide as well as international reputation for research on different aspect of services. All are committed to furthering the aims and objectives of RESER, but are also independent researchers in their own right. The RESER Council and other members of the Association have well-developed contacts with service researchers in Europe, North America and elsewhere. In this respect, RESER is an Association of networks.
RESER’s reputation is also founded upon its long-standing experience of collaborative research and consultancy work. The members of the network have developed high levels of international and European cooperation whilst at the same time pursuing their own local, regional or national programmes of research on the service economy and employment.

Conduct of joint research on services across Europe and elsewhere;
Promote research on services as key to understanding economic activity;
Raise awareness of RESER and facilitate exchange of research, information and ideas;
Develop new methods of statistical analysis and measurement of services;
Provide policy and economic decision makers with reports and analyses related to the development of services and to their role and impact.
Enlarge RESER membership to PhD students, post-docs and young researchers, providing information, supervision, and links to services researcher across Europe and elsewhere.

The annual conference

RESER organises an annual international conference with a specific theme, but the meetings are open to all papers that explore various aspects of services. The RESER Council identifies the conference theme in close collaboration with local organizers. Conference themes have included :

• 2010

The Resilience of the Global Service Economy Göthenburg (Sweden)

• 2009

Public and private services in the new global economy. Budapest (Hungary)

• 2008

New horizons for the role and production of services, Stuttgart, Germany.

• 2007

Service competitiveness and cohesion-balancing dynamics in the knowledge society, Tampere, Finland

• 2006

Services Governance and Public Policies, Lisbon Portugal

• 2005

Growth, employment and location of services: new trends in a global world, Granada, Spain

• 2004

ICT and Service relationship in the global economy, Toulouse, France

• 2003

Services and Regional Development, Mons, Belgium

• 2002

Understanding the Relationship between Services and Innovation, Manchester, United Kingdom

• 2001

New Information and Communication Technologies and Services, Grenoble, France

• 2000

Beyond the Economic? Cultural dimensions of services, Bergen, Norway

• 1999

Services in the Eve of the XXI century: growth, globalisation and the EMU, Alcalá de Henares, Spain

• Globalisation, international trade, outsourcing
  Knowledge, innovation and ICT
  Employment, skills, training
  Productivity and service macroeconomics
  Markets, quality, prices, regulations
  Service management, networks and marketing
  Non-market services, new public management
  Territorial, urban and regional studies of services
  Structural change and tertiarisation processes
  Public-private partnerships and services provision

• Annual special issues of The Service Industries Journal, Economies et Sociétés, Economics and Management of Services series.
• Services, Economy and Innovation Book Series published by Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK.
• Services Book Series published by L’harmattan, Paris, France
• RESER Working Paper Series.

The RESER network facilitates short term research visits and exchanges between participating institutions. Particular importance is attached to encouraging the development of new researchers, including the provision of conferences, scholarships/travel awards that enable graduate students participate in exchange visits between research teams located across Europe.

All members have:

INFORMATION AND CONTACTS
• Access to information and contacts amongst services researchers
• Student / researcher exchange possibilities
• Access to service-specific information on the Web page (in progress)
• Identifying opportunities to participate in joint research programmes

ANNUAL CONFERENCE
• Membership concession for attendance at the annual international conference.
• Scholarships / travel awards
• Dissemination of course brochures, working paper information, other research publications at the annual RESER international conference
• Selected conference papers nominated annually for publication in The Service Industries Journal (UK) and in Economies et Sociétés, Economics and Management of Services series (France)

OTHER
• Special discounts for journal subscriptions

In 2006 RESER Council introduced commendations for lifelong achievements and contributions to service-related research.
These have been awarded to

2009 Peter Daniels (United Kingdom)

2008 Bo Edvardsson (Sweden) and Sven Illeris (Denmark)

2007 William Baumol (USA) and Jean Gadrey( France)

2006 Peter Sjøholt (Norway)