The evolution of the spatial digital divide: From internet adoption to internet use by french industrial firms

In this paper, we concentrate on different aspects of the « spatial digital divide » and seek to answer three questions : Are there still spatial inequalities in the adoption of these technologies ? Is there a so-called “second level” geographical divide characterized by important differences in the intensity of Internet use between firms that have adopted these tools? Do the appropriation processes and logic of diffusion of ICT adopters vary according to the type of area in which they are located (urban vs. rural areas)? To answer these questions we have constructed an original model of technological diffusion (of the type developed by Battisti and Stoneman, 2005) that merges two types of models: those that concentrate on epidemic effects, and the so-called equilibrium models that model the decision to adopt new technologies as the result of an economic calculation by firms, which depends on their internal characteristics and those of their competitive, industrial and local environment. This model uses data drawn from a recent national survey (“ICT and e-commerce” 2002). One of the main results is that, for a given size and sector, although there no longer are spatial inequalities in terms of ICT adoption in France, there are still important inequalities in firms’ processes of ICT appropriation and use.Internet, inter-firm and intra-firm diffusion, rank and epidemic effects, agglomeration effects, spatial inequalities

Competitive intelligence and network mapping of interfirm alliances

In many industries, networks, rather than firms, have become the organizing level at which firms compete with each other. One role of competitive intelligence is to help firms understand their global environment as well as master their position in a number of industrial sectors. The pertinence of a firm strategy and position in the different segments it is involved in, can be analyzed by mapping the complex alliance networks that characterize industries today. These tools enable also a tech watch of individual, highly innovative, sectors as well as understand the links between countries and the positions of the nations themselves in the global environment.Alliance, network, mapping, biotechnology, competition

Modes of governance in the mutualist control: The case of agricultural co-operatives (In French)

This article focuses on the exercise of mutualist control from a statistical inquiry about agri-food groups. Under mutualist control, financial relations between firms are not only the concern of the influence capacity but also of the activity commitment. Illustrated by the construction of a data base, the paper highlights the necessity to take into account minority links and joint control in order to understand the clustering dynamics. The increasing of firms embeddedness during last period hides the strong power concentration into a few numbers of companies. This concentration of mutualist control which is related to a density of links, raises the problem of owner associate in a corporate governance.co-operatives, financial links, group, agri-food industry, power, joint control, governance

Investment behaviors of the key actors in capitalism: when geography matters

The article investigates the geography of finance via an analysis of the investment behavior of large international equity investors. The main argument is based on the importance of financial markets and capital flows and on the central role played in them by institutional investors, the key actors of capitalism. This paper is original because it introduces geographic criteria, and thus institutional and cultural factors, for understanding the behaviour of investors. We present evidence on the diversity of models of capitalism while questioning the convergence of national economies and markets towards a pattern often termed “the Anglo-Saxon model”.institutional investors, geography of finance, models of capitalism, financial markets

Vertical sub-contracting relationships strategy, the Airbus First-tier suppliers\' coordination

This paper analyzes the transformations of industrial vertical relationships, and more particularly the duality of the coordination modes within new industrial architectures. The paper aims to characterize relationship between the architect and the first-tier suppliers according to the strategic degree of their competence. Two models of coordination arm\'s length and systems integration coexist within the same industrial architecture. The recourse to one or the other varies according to the policy of purchase and the strategic degree of the sub-contracted subsystems. Thus we will analyze the system of subcontracting of Airbus by focusing to the importance of the purchasing policy. The argumentation articulates in two parts. The first one considers the vertical subcontracting relationships in the framework of complex productions, by insisting on organizational aspects. The second one analyses the transformation of the \"Airbus\" productive system by focusing on purchasing process and the emergence of new First-tier supplier’s coordination modes.NAModularity – Systems Integration – Strategic competences – Purchasing Strategy – First Tier Suppliers – Airbus

Urban Sprawl and Spatial Segregation. A review (In French)

This article explores the theoretical linkages between urban sprawl and social segregation. We first present the way segregation can increase urban sprawl : according to the « flight from blight hypothesis », mechanisms of segregation may form socially homogenous areas which tend to move away from each other. Second, we show that the influence of sprawl on segregation is ambivalent. On one’s hand, it diminishes the pressure on rent ; thus the exclusion process is softened. On the other hand, it gives more achievability to bring together people who want to. This last process is reinforced by exclusionary zoning practices. A review of some empirical studies on the link between residential density and social segregation show that the direction of such a relation is unspecified. We finally argue for an analysis of the urban sprawl-social segregation linkages as from the study of residential relocations.urban sprawl, social segregation, exclusionary zoning, flight from blight

The process of opening. An historical perspective (nineteenth and twentieth centuries) (In French)

Comparing the degree of openness of different national economies or the variations of openness during different periods is a difficult task. Using the historical data existing for France since the beginning of the 19th century, we try to show how an accurate and consistent picture of the gradual internationalisation of the French economy can be drawn from this set of indicators. The historical outlook we tried to establish for France may provide a new insight into the original features of the recent times, since the 1970s. The internationalisation process is not of course something new in itself. But, according to all available quantitative indicators, it is now more continuous and more intense than ever before. The coefficients measuring specifically the degree of openness of the manufacturing sector show the most significant progression, now surpassing by far the previous exceptionally high peaks reached during the 1920s – and this in both directions: for the growing share of imported manufactures in the French market goes together with the unchallenged pre-eminence of the manufacturing sector among French export trades. This new conjunction is relevant to explain the most negative characteristic of the present situation: for the first time, an acceleration in the process of opening is accompanied by a protracted weakening of the French (and European) economic growth.process of opening, globalization

Sketching Research in Education through Academic Journals (In French)

This contribution aims at coming up with serious grounds for an evaluation of French research published in scientific journals in the field of Education Science. A reliable method consists in criss-crossing the various databases which play an authoritative part – those of the ISI (Institute for Scientific Information) and others -, in listing the titles of journals they retrieve, and in asking the scientific community what its position is. Hence the scientificity of a journal: a journal is scientific when considered as such by the scientists of its community. In this contribution, a case study is built in Education Science. Some major journals are studied and some conclusions raised.Educational Research, Evaluation, France, Psychology, Sociology, Sociology of Science, Scientific Journals, Scientometrics

The dynamics of the vertical relations in the aeronautics: An analysis of the subcontracting relationships of Airbus (In French)

The plane production constraints, and more particularly an international multisite constraints, raise a strong question of productive and cognitive coordination of a complex technical product. This question treates the coordination, the design and the realization of the subsets and the coordination of the integration of the subsets up to the end product. It is We can observe the specifities of the relations interfirms in the sector of aeronautics by focusing on the relationships of subcontracting. The objectif of this paper is to characterize and to analyze the singularities of the relations between firms in the sector of aeronautics using the example of the vertical relations between Airbus and its principal industrial partners.NAvertical relations, subcontracting, Airbus, aeronautics, cooperation

Wealth, Well-being and Value(s): A Proposition of Structuring Concepts for a (real) Transdisciplinary Dialogue within Ecological Economics

This paper provides theoretical tools for discussing some aspects of the nature’s value controversy within Ecological Economics. It is argued that the critical stance of ‘incommensurability of values’ can be reinforced with key insights coming from a political economy of wealth inspired by Ricardo and Marx. Having dismissed any reference to the idea of economic value for non-market goods, it remains to outline the role of notions of utility, welfare and interest for giving a richer model of the human actor in a transdisciplinary perspective.Ecological Economics, value, political economy, wealth, well-being