Time use and the dynamics of the service sector

This article looks at the historical dynamics of service provision from a rather unusual perspective - the change of patterns of time use. It discusses a mechanism whereby activity patterns in 'the economy' may be accounted for in terms of time rather than money, and shows how this form of economic activity is associated with other ('extra-economic') sorts of productive and leisure activities. It presents time-budget data, from a number of different developed economies, showing historical changes in time allocation patterns, and relates these to more conventional indicators of economic structure.