IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-03168926.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

How Can the Governance of the French Clusters (Pôles de Compétitivité) Improve SME’s Competitiveness?

Author

Listed:
  • Martine Gadille

    (LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay
  • Alena A. Siarheyeva

Abstract

This paper focuses on Pôles de compétitivité-the French competitiveness clusters (FCC)-which mobilize national and regional actors and resources for innovation. By reviewing the literature (academic, web and news articles, and official reports) published on the subject, the synthesis emphasizes a collective learning process leading to institutional change reflected by legitimation of SMEs as full-fledged innovation actor. Through reflexive governance of certain poles, centered on their own sustainability, the policy has produced learning at local and national level. It has generated knowledge that has brought transformation of operational tools and societal representations in support of innovation of SMEs. The originality of the article is to show that in the French societal context, new place dependencies within the Pôles are characterized by emergence of a new innovation model of SMEs mainly through collaboration with public research. This model differs from the innovation model of SMEs staying outside of the poles. It is built through intermediary organizations that offer regional filters for national and regional policy adaptation. A major limitation of the policy is the difficulty to enhance cooperation between innovative SMEs and leader firms in the territory mainly because of a lack of social regulation over the protection and share of knowledge assets. The paper contributes to the research on clusters in general.

Suggested Citation

  • Martine Gadille & Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay & Alena A. Siarheyeva, 2021. "How Can the Governance of the French Clusters (Pôles de Compétitivité) Improve SME’s Competitiveness?," Post-Print hal-03168926, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03168926
    DOI: 10.4236/jss.2021.93008
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03168926
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-03168926/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4236/jss.2021.93008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mafini Dosso, 2014. "Restructuring in France's innovation system: from the mission-oriented model to a systemic approach of innovation," LEM Papers Series 2014/05, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    2. Bengt-Åke Lundvall, 2002. "Innovation, Growth and Social Cohesion," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2466.
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/10222 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Martin, Philippe & Mayer, Thierry & Mayneris, Florian, 2011. "Public support to clusters: A firm level study of French "Local Productive Systems"," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 108-123, March.
    5. Duranton, Gilles & Martin, Philippe & Mayer, Thierry & Mayneris, Florian, 2010. "The Economics of Clusters: Lessons from the French Experience," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199592203.
    6. Pierre-Yves Gomez, 2008. "La gouvernance des pôles de compétitivité. Impasses théoriques et reformulation de la spécificité des pôles," Revue française de gestion, Lavoisier, vol. 0(10), pages 197-209.
    7. Martine Gadille & Philippe Méhaut & Bruno Courault, 2013. "Compétences et régulation des marchés du travail dans les pôles de compétitivité : le cas du pôle Pégase," Revue d'économie régionale et urbaine, Armand Colin, vol. 0(2), pages 339-361.
    8. repec:hal:pseose:hal-00975554 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Lionel Fontagné & Pamina Koenig & Florian Mayneris & Sandra Poncet, 2013. "Cluster Policies And Firm Selection: Evidence From France," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 897-922, December.
    10. Pascal Corbel & Hervé Chomienne & Claude Serfati, 2011. "L'appropriation du savoir entre laboratoires publics et entreprises. La gestion des tensions au sein d'un pôle de compétitivité," Revue française de gestion, Lavoisier, vol. 0(1), pages 149-163.
    11. Martine Gadille & Julien Machado, 2010. "La formation dans les PME d'un pôle, rapports au savoir et division du travail," Post-Print halshs-00574297, HAL.
    12. Lionel Fontagné & Pamina Koenig & Florian Mayneris & Sandra Poncet, 2013. "Cluster Policies And Firm Selection: Evidence From France," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 897-922, December.
    13. Ann Markusen, 1996. "Sticky Places in Slippery Space: A Typology of Industrial Districts," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(3), pages 293-313, July.
    14. Emilie-Pauline Gallié & Anna Glaser & Valérie Mérindol & Thierry Weil, 2013. "How Do Pre-existing R&D Activities in a Region Influence the Performance of Cluster Initiatives? The Case of French Competitiveness Clusters," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(10), pages 1653-1675, October.
    15. Hans B. Thorelli, 1986. "Networks: Between markets and hierarchies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(1), pages 37-51, January.
    16. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/10222 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Hancke, Bob, 2002. "Large Firms and Institutional Change: Industrial Renewal and Economic Restructuring in France," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199252053.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Martine Gadille & Juan Ramón Gallego-Bono, 2021. "Rebuilding a Cluster While Protecting Knowledge within Low-Medium-Tech Supplier SMEs: A Spanish and French Comparison," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-35, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nathan, Max, 2022. "Does light touch cluster policy work? Evaluating the tech city programme," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(9).
    2. Hiroyuki Okamuro & Junichi Nishimura, 2015. "Local Management of National Cluster Policies: Comparative Case Studies of Japanese, German, and French Biotechnology Clusters," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-27, November.
    3. Hassine, Haithem Ben & Mathieu, Claude, 2020. "R&D crowding out or R&D leverage effects: An evaluation of the french cluster-oriented technology policy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    4. Konan Alain N'Ghauran & Corinne Autant-Bernard, 2020. "Assessing the collaboration and network additionality of innovation policies: a counterfactual approach to the French cluster policy," Post-Print halshs-03128972, HAL.
    5. Magali Chaudey & Marion Dessertine, 2016. "Impact sur l'emploi de la participation aux projets de R&D des pôles de compétitivité. Méthode et résultats," Working Papers halshs-01361349, HAL.
    6. Marie-Laure Cabon-Dhersin & Emmanuelle Taugourdeau, 2015. "Research clusters: How public subsidies matter?," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-01159523, HAL.
    7. Hiroyuki Okamuro & Junichi Nishimura, 2021. "Effects of multilevel policy mix of public R&D subsidies: Empirical evidence from Japanese local SMEs [The Impact of R&D Subsidies on R&D Employment Composition]," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 48(6), pages 829-840.
    8. Marie‐Laure Cabon‐Dhersin & Emmanuelle Taugourdeau, 2018. "Location and research activities organization: Could public/private cooperation be harmful?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 97(4), pages 883-907, November.
    9. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/55oar0vhn18ot8rb6sekvvcvt7 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Okamuro, Hiroyuki & Nishimura, Junichi, 2018. "Whose business is your project? A comparative study of different subsidy policy schemes for collaborative R&D," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 85-96.
    11. Modou Mar & Nadine Massard, 2021. "Animate the cluster or subsidize collaborative R&D? A multiple overlapping treatments approach to assess the impacts of the French cluster policy [The impact of R&D subsidies on R&D employment comp," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(4), pages 845-867.
    12. Lucena-Piquero, D. & Vicente, Jérôme, 2019. "The visible hand of cluster policy makers: An analysis of Aerospace Valley (2006-2015) using a place-based network methodology," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 830-842.
    13. Grashof, Nils, 2020. "Putting the watering can away Towards a targeted (problem-oriented) cluster policy framework," Papers in Innovation Studies 2020/4, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    14. Martin, Philippe & Mayer, Thierry & Mayneris, Florian, 2013. "Are clusters more resilient in crises? Evidence from French exporters in 2008-2009," CEPR Discussion Papers 9667, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Toshihiro Okubo & Tetsuji Okazaki & Eiichi Tomiura, 2022. "Industrial cluster policy and transaction networks: Evidence from firm‐level data in Japan," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(4), pages 1990-2035, November.
    16. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/55oar0vhn18ot8rb6sekvvcvt7 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Marie‐Laure Cabon‐Dhersin & Emmanuelle Taugourdeau, 2018. "Location and research activities organization: Could public/private cooperation be harmful?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 97(4), pages 883-907, November.
    18. Martin, Philippe & Mayer, Thierry & Mayneris, Florian, 2013. "Are clusters more resilient in crises? Evidence from French exporters in 2008-2009," CEPR Discussion Papers 9667, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Hiroyuki Okamuro & Junichi Nishimura, 2020. "What Shapes Local Innovation Policies? Empirical Evidence from Japanese Cities," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-22, February.
    20. Grashof, Nils, 2021. "Putting the watering can away –Towards a targeted (problem-oriented) cluster policy framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    21. KONDO Keisuke & OKUBO Toshihiro, 2020. "The Revitalization of Shrinking Cities: Lessons from the Japanese Service Sector," Discussion papers 20050, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    22. Pires, Jose Claudio Linhares & Cravo, Tulio & Lodato, Simon & Piza, Caio, 2013. "Industrial Clusters and Economic Performance in Brazil," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 4771, Inter-American Development Bank.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Clusters; Competitiveness; Cooperation; SME; Knowledge; R&D; Innovation;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03168926. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.