Linking two instruments for a better innovation policy-mix: the French case of the National Research agency and the Competitiveness Clusters

Since 2004, investigations and debates have been carried out on the French research and innovation system. Policy-makers have tried to break with the traditional ‘colbertist' state-centered model, which put emphasis on interventionism and state involvement. This system that was successful until the 80ies, seems unfit to the increasingly competitive and knowledge-driven economy. The French model is also challenged by the changes in the policy context, as new actors such as regions, and constraints such as the Lisbon agenda are framing policy-making and implementation in the arena of research and innovation policies. The new Law for research aims at reforming the organisation of the research and innovation system, mostly by creating new structures, at the governance level, such as the National Research Agency (ANR), and at the research and innovation production level, such as the competitiveness clusters. The aim of this paper is to provide a case study that illustrates empirically the challenges of the setting up of these two new structures, and their difficulties to combine their actions. This qualitative research highlights the need for coordination and communication to reduce uncertainties and redundancies. Our work illustrates that the new organisation of the research and innovation system consists of creating more and more structures, without thinking in terms of policy-mix. A policy-mix perspective, that is to say a combination and balance of the different instruments would provide a better coordination between the different actors of the system.