Spatial patterns of innovation activities in France: market’s role versus public research efforts

Abstract

In 2008, the spatial distribution of French research activities showed a polarized structure with two important agglomerations formed around Ile de France and Rhone-Alpes. A spatial analysis is here proposed to investigate the extent to which technology-specific innovation patterns are determined by the concentration of economic activities, the level and the quality of local research and knowledge flows from neighboring areas. The diversity of employment and the concentration of economic activities are found to be important drivers of spatial patterns of innovation activities, with an expected rate of innovation that increases with a higher concentration of economic activities. Such effect is higher in particular for technological fields as Chemistry. Although local research also stimulates innovation activities, the spatial distribution of the latter is subject to decreasing returns to local research. Additionally, knowledge flows from neighboring areas enforce local research activities, in particular for the case of Mechanical engineering and Electricity, locking-in the process of the localization of innovation activities. The knowledge of the appropriate channel of inducing technology-specific innovation patterns enables decision makers to formulate market-based or research support instruments able to stimulate private initiatives, with further consequences upon the spatial organization of innovation activities.