Includes bibliographical references. Noland, M., Park, D., & Estrada, G. B. (2012). Developing the service sector as engine of growth for Asia: An overview. Mandaluyong City: Asian Development Bank.

Introduction: Why Does Developing Asia Need to Strengthen Its Service Sector? -- Heterogeneity of Service Sector and Measurement Problems -- Service Sector Development and Per Capita Income: Some Key Stylized Facts -- Service Sector in Asia: The Basic Facts -- Low Productivity of Asia's Service Sector -- Asia's Service Sector has Some Effect on Poverty Reduction and thus Inclusive Growth -- Services, Gender Equality, and Environmentally Sustainable Growth -- Services, Urbanization, and Informality -- Urbanization and Informal Sector Employment -- Quality of Data: A Major Problem in the Analysis of Asian Services -- Some Conceptual Issues -- Concluding Observations

The study finds that the service sector is already an important source of output, growth, and jobs in developing Asia. However, the sector's productivity greatly lags that of the advanced economies, which implies ample room for further growth. The impact of the service sector on poverty reduction is less clear, but the paper finds some limited evidence of a poverty reduction effect.