News

23/02/2006

Globalization and the regions: what role should public authorities play? Hôtel Lutetia

Over the last few years, the Agence pour l’Economie en Essonne (Essonne Economic Agency or AEE) has been studying the consequences of globalization and the development of production systems in Essonne and, in a wider context, the Paris Region. Last spring, a team managed by Suzanne Berger (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) conducted around thirty on-site interviews with businesses in the Paris region.

The conference held on 23 February 2006 served as a sort of milestone for the analysis of public authority strategies designed to enhance the stability of industrial activity both at a départemental and a regional level. The goal of the conference was to understand how to adapt public authority policies to current economic realities.

The conference was organized around three major themes: S. Berger explored the issue of business adaptation strategies within a globalization context, and D. Breznitz (Georgia Institute of Technology) presented the main results of the surveys conducted in March 2005. Finally, P. Veltz (Ecole des Ponts) provided an overview of the potential role to be played by Competitive Clusters – businesses, research centres and training organizations focused on specific technological areas in France - in rethinking the policies pursued by public authorities.