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标题：Collaborators, sceptics, and opportunists; regional development and the pleasure boating sector in Brittany
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作者：Denis Melle ; Ji-Yong Lee
期刊名称：Canadian Journal of Regional Science
印刷版ISSN：0705-4580
出版年度：2016
卷号：39
期号：1-3
页码：11-22
出版社：Universite de Montreal - Dept de Geographie
摘要：The aim of this paper is to review incentives proposed by public authori ties and to show how businesses evaluate these incentives in the pleasure boating sector in France. The pleasure boating sector is closely linked to Brittany's regional identity, and plays a major role in its attractiveness to external actors. Starting with both qualitative and quantita- tive analyses, the results of this study show that incentives may be proposed in differ- ent forms; they may be direct, as in the case of subsidies, tax exemptions or allowanc- es; or indirect, as in the case of the organisation of informal meetings or topical semi- nars. Firms generally vote for cluster strategies, and prefer indirect incen tives to direct economic aid. Finally, three groups of firms a re identified: collaborators, sceptic s, and opportunists – this breakdown allows a better understanding to be gained of the man- ner in which firms perceive the incentives proposed by public autho rities. var currentpos,timer; function initialize() { timer=setInterval("scrollwindow()",10);} function sc(){clearInterval(timer); }function scrollwindow() { currentpos=document.body.scrollTop; window.scroll(0,++currentpos); if (currentpos != document.body.scrollTop) sc();} document.onmousedown=scdocument.ondblclick=initialize 12 Melle & Lee Collaborators, sceptics, and opportunists Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction prohibited. cessively combining qualitative and quantitative approaches : 1. Q ualitative interviews involving coding and analysis phases ; 2. H ypothes is develop ment; 3. A quantitative study associated with a questionnaire. The present paper first provi des a re- view of the literature dealing with clusters and incentive policies. The second part of our paper presents a case study of the pleasure boating sector in Brittany: the characteristics of this sector are introduced, followed by a description of the research meth- odology and the results obtained. Clusters and incentives Regional attractiveness may be de- fined as "a region 's capacity to offer the conditions which convince actors to pursue activities in their own re- gion , rather than another" (Hatem, 2004). Following the same logic, a re- lationship may exist between regional policies and the attractiveness of firms , as shown by a certain number of projects that in recent years have con- tributed to an abundan t literature. Ac- cording to Porter (1990, 1998), clus- ters could be one of the main factors contributing to the attractiveness of regional ns . Cluster theory and region- al development have each been the subject of considerable scientific re- search. While the benefits of proactive public policies for the p romotion of a country or the enhancement of re- gional development are undeniable, a combination of competitive and coop- erative relationships between co - located firms can be expected to pro- mote better learning, improved inno- vation, and thus greater competiti ve- ness of firms and industries located within a cluster. In 2000, Porter com- pleted his approach by linking the cluster to a regional ly integrated value chain supported by public authorities, more or less formal social networks, and relationships between pr oducers, suppliers and customers. This ap- proach has been widely discussed within the scientific community. The work of Asheim (1996) and Morgan (1997) show that cooperation and col- lective learning within regional net- works allow innovation and competi- tivene ss to be promoted within firms and regions. According to Cooke (2004), the innovative policies of re- gional clusters play a key role in the economic growth of underdeveloped areas. Although the proximity of ac- tors within a cluster does not make the regions totally immune to eco- nomic crises, it can make them more resilien t in times of crisis (Potter & Mi- randa, 2009). The beneficial effects of a cluster occur naturally, without the need for public intervention. However, public policy can also play an important role in the emergence and development of successful clusters, for example by supporting research collaborations and the creation of networks, and by providing infrastructure and funding for education and training. Public poli- cies can also contrib ute by coordinat- ing and mobilizing key stakeholders around a common vision for the clus- ter's development. Over the last dec- ade, regional initiative clusters have become a privileged lever of interven- tion and action for public authorities (Mills, Reynolds, & Reamer, 2008; OECD, 2007). In Europe, these initiatives are driven by the European Commission, which launched a European Cluster Observatory project, the aim o f which is to permanently monitor the dynam- ics of the most innovative clusters, and to establish a common methodol- ogy for the European Union. Since the 1990s, several European countries have implemented policies designed to promote the emergence of regional clusters (Salvador & Chorincas, 2006). Each country's approach is different, as are national and regional contexts, in particular in commercial environ- ments, institutional frameworks, and business cultures. Nevertheless, some common features can be observed in these differing approaches: public au- thorities play a strong incentive role and accompany the actors in a struc- turing process. In France, the willingness of public authorities to structure local and re- gional development became a reality in May 2004, when Christian Blanc 1 sent a report to the Prime Minister highlighting the fact that "The organi- zation of the national territory into a set of networks is a decisive factor for competitiveness". A year later, on 12 July 2005, the CIAD 2 agreed to assign 1.5 billion € to the financing of all com- petitiveness clusters. The concept of competit iveness clusters therefore as- similates regions as structures that are capable of linking businesses and in- novation. This is defined by four char- acteristics (Pecqueur, 2007): 1. The economic development strat- egy of the cluster must have re- gional roots, and be consistent with the local development plan. 2. The cluster must have internation- al visibility. 3. The mode of governance among actors must be effective and of high quality. 4. Candidates for labelling projects must be the "creators of synergy in research and development and produce new wealth with a high added value". Since 1971, competitiveness clus- ters have been labelled and Brittany has been distinguished by the creation of four clusters . T wo are globally ori- ented ("Images and Networks" in Lann ion and the " P.le Mer Bretagne " in Brest) and two are nationally ori- ented (Valorial "Food for the Future" and "iDforCAR" in Rennes). The P.le Mer Bretagne cluster has approxi- mately 360 members, large enterpris- es, SMEs, research centres and higher education institutes. The particularity of P.le Mer Bretagne is that approxi- mately 50% of its memb ers are small and medium - sized enterprises (SMEs) 3 , and that the activities found within this cluster are highly diverse, covering a broad panel of skills and occupati ons including those related to the pleasure boating sector . Cluster policies are designed to unite the different actors involved in local economic development, such as national institutions, local state insti- tutions (Regional Councils, General Councils, lo cal organizations ), political parties, labour unions, local non - state