Contenu du sommaire

This article proposes an interpretation of the concept of territorial dynamics of knowledge by integrating consumers into the industry-research-administration triptych in the case of the seafood industry. Recent models associating consumers and producers are part of the knowledge and innovation economy. The article is motivated by two questions: Does the seafood industry meet the characteristics of knowledge-based economies? Is this knowledge shared with consumers? While disruptive innovations are rare, incremental improvements are frequent in this industry. This article is based on a consumer survey carried out in 2021 on the French market. The survey results, where consumers are separated according to their department of residence (coastal and non-coastal), support the hypothesis that geographical proximity strongly impacts knowledge of seafood products. Indeed, the results reveal that coastal households tend to have differentiated preferences for seafood products compared to non-coastal households. They pay more attention to the provenance (local and national) and the environmental impact of the seafood they consume. An explicit difference in knowledge between coastal and non-coastal consumers can explain this difference in expressed preferences. Indeed, our results show that coastal consumers tend to have a higher level of subjective and objective knowledge regarding the seafood sector than non-coastal consumers. They tend to rate themselves as more expert, reflected in a greater knowledge of labelling regulations and the link between wild fisheries and aquaculture production. Based on these results, the discussion focuses on two issues: the environmental impact of fishing methods and trade regulations. While coastal households have a better knowledge of these two subjects, controversy is present.

France's overall demographic growth is positive, driven by natural and migratory balances. However, this growth is not evenly distributed throughout the country. There are many areas in decline, with global and local spatial patterns that need to be examined. Numerous studies have highlighted urban decline, while others have considered the regional dimension, but little attention has been paid to the persistent decline of some rural areas over several decades. The aim of this article is to examine all French rural municipality in order to highlight the spatial dynamics at work. Our hypothesis is that urban areas have an influence on the dynamics of the surrounding countryside, and that this influence is all the stronger the larger the cities' population. To model this relationship, we rely on a diachronic analysis of French census data at the "commune" level over the last 25 years, with particular attention to the 2010s. The results confirm and qualify our hypotheses. On the one hand, it highlights the great diversity of regional situations and, on the other, it confirms the structuring role of cities. The results show that the influence of cities on rural communities is not linear and even disappears after a certain distance. We also show that cities do not have the same influence on their hinterland depending on their demographic weight. Finally, we show that this relationship remains stable over time, leading to an increase in spatial inequalities in population distribution. In addition to confirming the structuring role of cities, this article reminds us that we need to think about refining these models in the future.

In the second half of the twentieth century, higher education institutions (ESR) were assigned “the third mission” with the expectation that they generate knowledge outside academic environments to the benefit of the social, cultural and economic development, especially in their local scope. Starting with the United States, governments in multiple countries have promoted technology transfer policies to foster the innovation induced by public research from the ESR (Bayh-Dole Act of 1980). Inspired by those reforms, France has introduced new reforms since the 2000s to change the role of the ESR establishments. It calls for a closer scrutiny of their real impact on local economic development. With this paper, we propose to fill a gap in the literature by analyzing how ESR research can foster local innovation in the French context. We select the laws « Research Schedule » (LPR) and « University Freedom and Responsibility » (LRU) of 2006 and 2007 as pivotal higher education reforms. We seek to determine whether these policies are beneficial to the local economic environment or not. The number of patents filed between 2000 and 2012 in French departments is used as a proxy for local innovation. Despite greater research capacity in the years following the implementations of those reforms, we demonstrate that technology transfer policies are not sufficient instruments to foster local innovation based on research carried out within ESR establishments. These results are similar to those obtained in the United States and Germany.