Innovation, competition and growth ; Croissance, concurrence et TIC

Abstract

Political discourse is imbued with an obsession for economic growth. The main determinant of long-term growth in endogenous growth theory is innovation, but the institutional environment of economic activity is also an important explanatory factor. In particular, within this environment, competition plays a major, though controversial, role. The purpose of this thesis is to study some aspects of growth, of its determinants and of policies that seek to promote it. Two aspects in particular will be studied, innovation and competition. The first part focuses on two types of policies aimed at encouraging innovation. The first policy is direct government support, studied through an analysis of the impact of the Research Tax Credit (Chapter 1). The second policy considered is the legal framework for innovation (Chapter 2). The theoretical model presented intends to take into account new practices in intellectual property law. The second part deals with the institutional environment in general, and in particular competition. It starts with an international comparison of the level of competition between France and several European countries in various sectors, using an econometric method based on growth equations (Chapter 3). Two sectors are then analyzed in detail : the food industry (Chapter 4), where the balance of power has been tipped in favour of large retailers, and accomodation and food services activities (Chapter 5). ; L'obsession pour la croissance économique domine le discours politique. Le déterminant principal de la croissance de long terme avancé par les théories de croissance endogène est l'innovation, mais l'environnement institutionnel de l'activité économique est également un élément primordial d'explication du rythme de la croissance, et en particulier, au sein de cet environnement, la concurrence, dont le rôle est très discuté. L'objet de cette thèse est d'étudier certaines dimensions de la croissance, de ses déterminants et des politiques qui cherchent à la favoriser, en particulier l'innovation et ...