In a light-emitting device, a light-emitting layer portion composed of a compound semiconductor is bonded on one main surface of a transparent conductive semiconductor substrate while placing a substrate-bonding conductive oxide layer composed of a conductive oxide in between. Between the light-emitting layer portion and the substrate-bonding conductive oxide layer, a contact layer for reducing junction resistance with the substrate-bonding conductive oxide layer so as to contact with the substrate-bonding conductive oxide layer. This is successful in providing the light-emitting device which is producible at low costs, has a low series resistance, and can attain a sufficient emission efficiency despite it has a thick current-spreading layer.