Spatial development or industrial policy? The experiences of competitiveness poles in France

Abstract

The study seeks to present a multigenerational construction, the French competitiveness poles, the theoretical background of their creation and some practical experiences gained through two cycles of their operation. We will keep an eye on the specific cultural-national context which leaves its mark on the effective realisation of the programme, being a source of disadvantages and also shaping innovation propensity.

The French poles are relatively young constructions which are situated at the intersection of spatial development, competitiveness and industrial policies. While the primary characteristic of spatial development policy is that it is adapted to the national space, the French programme of competitiveness poles transcends the national borders and focuses on spatial competitiveness in the spirit of the European discourse. While we do not reject the theory according to which strategies of large multinational firms shape and determine the destiny of individual regions, influence their rise or demise, it is necessary that we do not regard a given region a passive receptor of global processes, but a dynamically changing construction as a result of the collective action of heterogeneous stakeholders. The programme of competitiveness poles seeks to symbolize this collective effort directed towards the amelioration of the state of an entire region. The programme can be interpreted as a revised and updated version of the traditional model of central policy measures directed at stimulating innovation. The core elements of the current programme are spatial systems of innovation, and its major objective is to achieve the critical mass of industrial capacities and scientific institutions. The functioning of the poles is based on open innovation, the core of which is that firms perform innovative activity in collaboration with their partners in order to avoid being isolated within their institutional frameworks. The major stakeholders of the poles are small and medium-sized companies in harmony with the European employment objectives, since they are the major source of job creation in France as well. They encounter the largest obstacles to creating the sufficient conditions of innovation and experience severe difficulties in forming efficient partnerships with multinational firms.

Even though it is too premature to evaluate the programme’s success or failure, various problems are already visible. For instance, the too large number of poles to be reduced from the current cycle starting from 2014; a sometimes symbolic relationship between higher educational institutions and the research sector; the sometimes quite erroneous choice of sectors to be developed; the lack of specialization within the various poles; a non-reasonable geographical delimitation of poles (encompassing one or multiple regions); failure to achieve international visibility, and a danger of an excessive fragmentation of funding resources. Whether the state is more inclined to apply the programme as a national industrial policy instrument (while neglecting the aspects of territorial embeddedness), or use them to serve the traditional harmonisation goals of spatial development policy (to their large number and relatively even distribution in the national space), the success of the programme will only be manifested if the poles resist the test of time and become solid foundations of the national competitiveness-based economic policy.