Title: Poles of competitiveness, a French dangerous obsession?

Authors: Christian Longhi, Michel Rainelli

Addresses: University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, GREDEG-CNRS, UMR 6227, 250, Rue A. Einstein, Sophia-Antipolis, 06560 Cedex Valbonne, France. ' University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, GREDEG-CNRS, UMR 6227, 250, Rue A. Einstein, Sophia-Antipolis, 06560 Cedex Valbonne, France

Abstract: Poles of competitiveness embody the |new industrial policy| implemented in France since 2004. This notion of pole is embedded in the French economic analysis tradition and has taken different forms over time. Paraphrasing the title of a famous article of Krugman, the paper questions this French |obsession|. The paper analyses the huge evolution of these poles of competitiveness in France, from top-down to bottom-up policies, presents the analytical frameworks underlying the present form and attempts to draw a first assessment of the policy implemented in 2004.

Keywords: industrial clusters; poles of competitiveness; globalisation; industrial policy; innovation; R&D; research and development; France.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2010.029411

International Journal of Technology Management, 2010 Vol.49 No.1/2/3, pp.66 - 92

Published online: 06 Apr 2013 *

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