The Competitiveness Clusters are 10 years old. A good opportunity to assess the effectiveness of this initiative, whose performance was not guaranteed at the start. More spending on innovation, more hiring of R&D staff, more patents filed…
A little flashback: in July 2005, the government labeled 67 competitiveness clusters, a sort of “French-style” clusters. After the merger of some and the labeling of a few others over the years, there are now 71 competitiveness clusters.
They aim to enhance innovation and boost the competitiveness of French industry by promoting collaborations between businesses, start-ups, universities, and public research laboratories within a region. All with a financial boost.
Thus, the state allocated a budget of 1.5 billion euros for the period 2009-2012 to finance collaborative research projects, exemptions from charges on researcher positions within companies, as well as the management of the clusters.
So, ten years later, is this method effective? In total, 1,600 collaborative research projects led by the competitiveness clusters have benefited from state financial support—for a total R&D expenditure of nearly 6.8 billion euros, co-financed by the state at 24%, local authorities at 16%, and companies for the remaining 60%.
The results first show a leverage effect of public aid. When a company receives an average of 103,000 euros in public aid in 2012, it increases its own research spending by 474,000 euros the same year.
Overall, companies in the clusters spent an average of 691,000 euros more on their R&D activities in 2012 than companies outside the clusters.
The effect is also increasingly felt on the hiring of R&D staff: companies each recruited on average 2.5 additional people in 2007 and 6.5 people in 2012.
The effect of belonging to a cluster is finally noticeable on the number of patents filed, starting from 2010. In 2012, an average of two additional patents per member company of the clusters were filed.
With the establishment of new regions, they will have to adapt. They also need to “align” with the nine priorities of the New Industrial France.
This reform will be based on three principles: “consolidation, clarity, and proximity”.
