Date
2007
Dewey
Economie industrielle
Sujet
Policy-mix; National Innovation system; Clusters; National Research Agency; governance
JEL code
O38; O25
Conference name
1st International Seminar on Regional Innovation Policies
Conference date
02-2007
Conference city
Porto
Conference country
Portugal
Author
Fen Chong, Stéphanie
Gallié, Emilie-Pauline
Type
Communication / Conférence
Item number of pages
30
Abstract (EN)
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.