Christian Longhi

Innovative Networks and the Technopolis Phenomenon: The Case of Sophia-Antipolis

An attempt is made, first, to assess the technopolis project of Sophia-Antipolis, and, second, to propose a qualitative means of understanding local systems of innovation. A quantitative analysis based on the evaluation of the Sophia-Antipolis development indicates success, but seems to be insufficient to give an indication of the economic strength of the project. A theoretical analysis of local systems of production and innovation appears to be necessary; such an analysis is carried out, and ends with the definition of a concept of innovative network that is based on the coordination modes of local activities and the related incentive schemes. This framework is then applied to Sophia-Antipolis, and allows a qualitative assessment of the project, revealing some weaknesses in the local context.

A French revolution: technology management in the aerospace industry. The case of Toulouse

The recent evolutions implemented in the French aerospace industry have been labelled as a French Revolution in the paper. They illustrate the shift from a national – regional logic towards a global – local one as nexus of economic and technological development. The case of Toulouse, in the south west of France, which can be considered today as the European capital of the civil aerospace industry, will allow to grasp the different dimensions involved of this process: technology management, organisation, territories. The transition from a regional system of production to a local system of innovation in Toulouse exemplifies the dynamics raised by the globalisation of the contemporaneous economies.

High technology locations and globalisation: converse paths, common processes

Todays economy can be characterised as simultaneously globalised and localised. In this paper, we examine the emergence and evolution of two high tech centres that exemplify these interwoven processes. Cambridge in East Anglia and Sophia-Antipolis near Nice are among the best known centres of high technology activity in Europe. They are often classed together, but the response to global developments and the dynamics underlying the emergence and working of each of these high tech clusters are in direct contrast, despite the operation of certain common processes. This paper shows that Cambridge has grown up largely as a centre of technologies emerging from the science base through local enterprise, but has also come to be a centre of early diffusing technologies. Sophia-Antipolis has grown as centre of implant activity and technological diffusion and is becoming a centre of enterprise and emerging technologies.

The development of the local e-administration: empirical evidences from the French case

The local dimension of e-Administration is not usually well developed in the literature. This paper contributes to the knowledge on the various issues raised by local e-Administration and proposes an analytical framework for the evaluation of the potential local online service offerings. Examination of how local public administration has developed in France is based on evidence from a dedicated survey of a sample of French communes. The analysis will enable us to identify the relative effort and performance in the development of local e-Administration based on the particular socio-economic characteristics of the communes. The analysis benefits from information derived from a survey designed particularly to address the issues raised in this paper.

Open data: Challenges and opportunities for the tourism industry

Open data initiatives from governments or local authorities are recent, but they have rapidly resulted in the development of services or mobiles applications, often dedicated to tourism. This paper defines the open data phenomenon and explores the different implications for the tourism industry, considered as a sectoral system of innovation and production. This approach allows to grasp the different dimensions of the impacts of open data - institutions, knowledge bases and technologies, organizations and interactions, demand - their co-evolutions and resulting evolutions of the boundaries and dynamics of the tourism industry.

Defense financing of private R&D: evidences from French firms

This paper focuses on the public financing of private R&D. In France, this type of finance is mainly in the form of defense subsidies. This study brings empirical evidence on the open question of the effects of the public subsidies on private research, through analysing firms that receive R&D subsidies from the French Ministry for Defense. The paper builds different samples of firms from the available R&D and innovation surveys and evidences that the links with Defense have consequences on technological performance. Precisely, it shows that the firms benefiting from R&D subsidies exhibit a higher propensity to innovate.

Financing the Firm

The financial policy of corporate firms has been generally depicted in the economic literature in terms of “puzzles”: “capital structure puzzle”, “debt- existence puzzle”, “dividend puzzle”… These puzzles are the result of the old divorce or evident contradictions existing between economic theory and economic facts when considering corporate finance. The first, in its general equilibrium orthodox version, concludes to the irrelevance of the capital structure of the firms; the second shows the interest of the firms in finance when designing their strategy, and, the close influence of differences and shifts in financial structure on their performances. In fact, as stated by Stiglitz (1969), the decisions of the firm can be divided into four groups: How should the firm finance its investment? How should the firm distribute its revenue? How much should the firm invest? Which projects should the firm undertake (or what techniques of production should the firm employ?).

La dynamique des espaces urbains : Innovation et marché du travail

Wirtschaftliche Dynamik und Strukturierung von Ballungsraumen ; Die Entwicklung der mit der Urbanisierung einhergehenden Dienstleistungen reproduziert die wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Gegensatze zwischen Gemeinden innerhalb desselben Ballungsraums. Mit dem Verfall der industriellen Struktur - Beispiel : Marseille - tragt die Konkurrenz unter den Kommunen zur raumlichen Segregierung des Reichtums und einer auf der geographischen Lage beruhenden Rente bei. Die zentrifugale Streuung von Unternehmen und Wohnvierteln innerhalb der Stadtregion wird von staatlichen und kommunalen Projekten beschleunigt, die auf die Verstarkung der Unterschiede hinwirken.