An economic history of the Champagne contracts, lessons for regional development

This paper highlights the success factors of the governance of the Champagne supply chain. Scholars on economic organisation stress the role of the contractual enforcement to explain the stability of the economic exchanges and the ability of the economic and political actors to foster their own development (NORTH 1999). Our contribution detailed explicit and implicit mechanisms related to the vinegrower-merchant relations in the regional system. The Champagne region had the particularity to posses a double-head organisation, regrouping all the farms and firms involved in the agronomic, and commercial process of the regional wines. This private board is supported by an institutional environment, common market organisation, French rural acts, and national and international legislations on geographical indication. These legislatives and administrative components define precisely the productive and market rules. Rely on a longitudinal approach we reinterpret the way the interprofessionnal (general) agreement, essential part of the governance of the regional market, evolved during decades (BARRERE 2003). This rereading illustrates the interdependency between explicit and implicit enforcement mechanisms which foster the cooperation. We argue that asymmetric investments in advertising play a major role in the stability of the regional cooperation. The achievement of the reputation of the AOC Champagne by massive advertising and commercial investments mainly realised by the negociants is central to understand the convergence of both party strategies on a long term. These investments step in as catalyst of a negotiated environment and award the self-enforcing character of the contracts. It makes efficient the set of private arrangements and regulatory mechanisms designed to eradicate opportunistic behaviours. During all the second part of the 20th century, the form of the contractual agreements evolved. Governance tools were added and suppressed. However these forced or desired adaptations slightly alter the nature of the cooperative process. The flexibility of the private arrangement, as well as the comprehensive economic policy, ensures the durability of the general agreement in spite of crisis. These results backup the hypothesis of the new institutional economics on the necessity of complementary institutions to make the market efficient (AOKI 2001).

Acteurs et agriculture biologique dans la fabrique alternative des espaces : Le cas de l’Île-de-France

La Région Île-de-France a mis en place un programme de soutien pour l’agriculture biologique. Cette forme d’agriculture est conçue en tant qu’alternative au système agricole dominant qui structure les espaces ruraux dans cette région : l’agriculture productiviste. La filière AB qui interdit les intrants chimiques de synthèse dans l’élaboration des produits est un système en construction, dont le développement est favorisé par la volonté politique d’acteurs institutionnels à différentes échelles. Cette filière contribue à l’ordonnancement des espaces du fait des effets de circuits de vente variés, parfois innovants qui contribuent à l’affirmation de nouvelles formes de marché. Toutefois, ces dernières s’appuient également sur des pôles existants. Finalement, cette forme d’agriculture qui implique nombre d’acteurs de natures différentes, impulse de nouvelles formes de coordination et une trajectoire de développement alternative.“Paris Region” appears as a stakeholder to organic farming on these territories. This form of farming is imagined as an alternative to the agricultural dominant system that structures rural areas in the region : the productivist agriculture. The organic farming which forbids synthetic chemicals in the making of products is under construction. It is facilitated by programmatic of various political and institutional actors, at several scales. This kind of farming organises farming spaces with several types of sale, which offer new marketing forms. However, these last ones also lean on existing poles. Finally, this embeddedness involves different actors who organise themselves to launch a sustainable and alternative development based a new agri-food system

The logistic leverages of short food supply chains performance in terms of sustainability

Local food supply chains seem now to be considered as a serious alternative to global ones in terms of sustainability. A lot of initiatives are developed and they often are associated with economical, social and environmental benefits. The main objective of this paper is to discuss the reality of these advantages. They are notably considered as a way to relocate or maintain agricultural activities, particularly in suburban areas. They are also supposed to be able to restore the connection between producers and consumers and to promote an alternative agricultural model based on "greener" production methods and the reduction of transport distances (the "food miles"). However, several studies have shown the limits of these models. Firstly, many important retailers have developed short food supply chains, questioning the local food system as an alternative business model. Moreover, it needs specific resources that many producers can't always offer. Secondly, an inadequacy between consumer's and producer's expectations can be observed, and many initiatives aren't based on collective approaches but on individual actions. Thirdly, these models aren't always based on alternative producing models (as organic agriculture) and the limitation of distances isn't always a factor of reduction of greenhouse gases. The paper tries to assess the performance of local food systems and the logistic leverages that could improve that performance. Long food chains have demonstrated the importance of logistic as a means to improve performance, and we can wonder how the improvement of the logistic organization of short food systems could increase their economical, social and environmental performance. Considering the fact that there's not only one local food system but a wide range of possibilities based on different numbers of intermediates or different geographic scales, our work will, at first, be based on Parker's article [2005] that defines short food supply chains as systems that reduce both the distance and the number of intermediates. After a brief presentation of short chains and of the advantages related to them, we will discuss their environmental assessment and impact, showing the role of transport and production mode in that dimension. An analysis of long food chains will then enable us to show how strategic logistics has become in that sector and the means necessary to the implementation of efficient logistic schemes. After a first look at logistics in short chains, we will propose a detailed study of the logistic schemes observed in fruit and vegetable basket systems in the Paris Region. This will lead us to build a typology of organizations to study their potential role in the improvement of short chains performance and more specifically their ability to improve coordination between the actors of those chains.LOGISTIQUE ; DEVELOPPEMENT DURABLE ; PERFORMANCE

Mécanismes de garantie des coopérations bi et multilatérales locales : du contrat d’approvisionnement à la publicité coopérative dans l’AOC Champagne

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Le métier de pépiniériste : Un reflet des transformations passées et à venir des mondes du vin?

L’identité du vin, si elle rime souvent avec terroir, est aussi structurellement liée aux cépages utilisés. Pourtant les cépages ont fluctué à la suite de la crise phylloxérique où certains se sont affirmées au détriment d’autres pour leur compatibilité au greffage. Ce dernier donne de fait lieu à l’affirmation d’un nouveau métier : celui de pépiniériste. Un métier au carrefour d’expertises multiples : d’abord en tant qu’intermédiaire entre les sélectionneurs de plants et les viticulteurs, mais aussi vis-à-vis du système d’encadrement de l’expérimentation et de l’évaluation variétale. Un métier également au carrefour des mutations du monde de la vigne, par les crises sanitaires qu’il a subies, par la mondialisation des territoires du vin et l’avènement des vins de cépages, par les injonctions environnementales et sociétales qui le traversent aujourd’hui. Certains viticulteurs se tournent ainsi vers la valorisation d’un patrimoine génétique ancien, avec le souci de reconstruire une biodiversité « oubliée » en valorisant une typicité du terroir tant sur le plan patrimonial que commercial. De même, les critiques sociales de leur usage intensif de pesticides conduisent d’autres viticulteurs à expérimenter de nouvelles variétés hybrides, résistantes aux maladies, issues de travaux de sélection étrangers. Ce renouvellement de l’expérimentation variétale par le terrain n’est pas sans questionner l’ordonnancement des expertises qui prévalait jusqu’alors. Nous retraçons ici les évolutions du métier de pépiniériste, en lien avec l’expérimentation et l’évaluation des cépages, au rythme des mutations de la vigne et du vin

An economic history of the Champagne contracts, lessons for regional development

International audienc

Vertical Regional Cooperation in an Industry Based View

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Generic communication and cooperation in the French Wine Industry

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La stratégie commerciale du négoce dans le contrat interprofessionnel, permanence de la succession d'équilibres institutionnels au cours de l'histoire contemporaine du Champagne

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Mécanismes d’incitation et de garantie de la gouvernance territoriale dans l’industrie du champagne

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