Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
French Competiveness Clusters:
A Multipurpose Policy Instrument
Yoslan Nur
Abstract The French government launched, in 2005, a 3-year policy of
competitiveness clusters (pˆ les de competitivité), which has since then been
extended for the period of 2009 to 2012. It is one of the most important recent
innovation policies in the country. Theoretically, a competitiveness cluster brings
together large and small firms, research laboratories, and educational establish-
ments with the support of the national and regional government, to work together
in a specific region to develop synergies and cooperative efforts. The primary
objective of this initiative is to boost the competitiveness of the French economy
and to help develop growth and jobs in key markets namely by accelerating
innovation efforts, providing support for high-tech and creative activities, and
improving international visibility. Active partnerships among the cluster members
should contribute to fostering synergies of the sector or technology underlying the
cluster. Cluster members are eligible for direct financial aid, tax incentives, and
privileges for accessing funding sources. France has now 71 competitiveness
clusters and €4.3 billion over 6 years has been dedicated by the public sector to
support these initiatives. The competitiveness cluster is a multipurpose policy
instrument. It is a convergence of research and development (R&D), industrial,
and innovation cluster instruments. This policy not only promotes an outward
looking (export-oriented) economic policy for French firms but also constitutes a
shift from a top-down to a bottom-up philosophy with competition orientation
between initiatives at the regional level. This chapter shall analyze the impact of
the public and private partnerships of the competitiveness cluster policy on
cooperative research and development (R&D) activities, creation and growth of
knowledge-based
small
and
medium
enterprises,
and
the
creation
of
local
innovation ecosystem.
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