Trade and Integration Team

Produced by the Research Support Team The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. Policy Research Working Paper 5262 This paper analyzes the recent evolution and impact of the global economic crisis on the offshore services industry. Using a global value chains framework, the authors classify the offshore services sector in a comprehensive set of general and industry-specific activities that correspond to different segments and stages in the value-adding process for services. Through an analysis of the impact of the economic crisis on the industry, a small decline in demand was found; however this did not cause any structural changes in the market. The crisis has created two opposing effects: general This paper—a product of the Trade and Integration Team, Development Research Group (Global Trade and Financial Architecture project)—is part of a larger effort in the department to explore the effects of the world economic crisis on global value chains. The authors would like to express their thanks to Penny Bamber for her insightful comments and contribution to this paper. The authors also would like to thank Cassiana Silva, Anuradha Phulekar and Valentina D