This doctoral dissertation studies the effect of economic integration on the performance of firms. The ongoing process of global economic integration has been characterized by dismantling of trade barriers and openness to foreign direct investments (FDI). These changes have not only brought opportunities to firms in terms of market access and the possibility to learn about foreign technologies brought in by foreign counterparts. The new economic environment has also posed new challenges through a greater competitive pressure urging firms to continuously align their production patterns to more efficient business practices. The agility of firms to adjust to external shocks, and hence the potential of countries to benefit from economic integration, does presumably not only depend on the internal assets of firms but may also be influenced by government policies and national institutional settings. This conceptual background constitutes the storyline of the doctoral dissertation. Chapter 1 of the dissertation is a step forward in understanding the externalities of foreign direct investments on the economic performance of domestic firms. During the late eighties and early nineties, Spain saw an upswing in foreign direct investments that placed the economic at the top of FDI recipients in Europe. To provide fresh insights into the firm-levels responses to FDI, Chapter 1 investigates the effects of foreign direct investment on the productivity of domestic firms within the same sector of activity as foreign firms, and whether FDI externalities differed depending on their level of technology. The empirical results show that foreign presence had an overall positive effect on the productivity growth of domestic firms. The gains were not, however, evenly distributed across firms. Firms closer to the frontier benefited more from FDI than firms far from the technology frontier. A further integration of the world economy with new economic actors, like China and India, has highlighted the need for European firms to climb the quality ladder and shift towards high value added products and greater flexibility in delivering new products in order to survive new competitive threats. Chapter 2 is a theoretical and empirical examination of the role of innovation for the export activities of firms. The intuition is that firms through innovation enhance their access to foreign markets by improving cost competitiveness and the quality of products. The Chapter builds on previous literature to develop a trade model in which firms differ in their propensity to innovate and export based on their underlying productivity. The empirical results, in line with the theoretical model, suggest a positive effect of innovation on the probability of participation in export markets. The innovative activities of firms may not only depend on their internal assets, but presumably also on their relations with other actors in the national innovation systems. To understand better the role of firms’ relations with the science sector, Chapter 3 turns to one of the major producers of knowledge –universities- and investigates the factors that contribute to the successful transfer of knowledge from universities to the market. The results from Chapter 3 show that universities with established technology transfer policies, procedures, and large and experienced technology transfer offices perform better. Previous chapters demonstrate that innovation gives a competitive edge to firms exploring foreign markets. Chapter 4, which is joint work with economists from France’s central bank, investigates how credit market imperfections affect the expansion and survival of firms in foreign markets, which is essential for the design of policies stimulating aggregate trade and competitiveness. Chapter 4 develops a theoretical model to study the impact of credit constraints on the number of newly served export destinations by firms and their exits from the export market and tests it using French firm-level data. The results show that credit constraints negatively affect the number of newly created export relations and have a negative effect on the probability of exit from the export market.

Businesses worldwide are confronting a more internationalized market. With this trend, companies frequently turn to international branding and rebranding initiatives through the acquisition of companies to grow. During this process, businesses are updating their brand identity and/or strategy, while also dealing with various challenges. Studies focusing on these challenges on the B2B field remain little explored and are necessary, due to its highly competitive characteristic. Especially in the life science industry, due to its institutional differences between national markets in the sector. Therefore, the overall research purpose in this licentiate thesis is to describe and understand how the international branding and rebranding process is developed in the life science industry. In this thesis, two studies were made to achieve this purpose. One literature review to explore the current literature of the field and one empirical study using a single case study method. The main contribution of this licentiate thesis is to describe in-depth how the brand rebranding process is implemented in the life science industry, and its main hinders. They are: internal and external legitimation. More importantly, this study presents a framework that demonstrates how businesses in emerging regions face more external legitimation challenges as a result of institutional constraints, as opposed to developed countries, where internal legitimation barriers are more prominent during the rebranding process. This licentiate thesis contributes to creating knowledge in international branding since it provides an overview of the past years of research in the area and suggests research gaps that need further investigation. In parallel, it generates insights into the analyzed process of international branding and rebranding, bringing understanding into the corporate brand area and the management of B2B brands in life science industries.

Les politiques de clusterisation se présentent comme inédites et porteuses de changement dans un monde, jugé sclérosé, où science et industrie seraient insuffisamment reliées. Regroupant géographiquement laboratoires, entreprises et formations d'un même domaine disciplinaire, les dispositifs de clusters sont, en effet, les produits d'une large rhétorique célébrant leurs bienfaits. Forgée au cœur des instances politiques transnationales par des « chercheurs-experts », venus de la science gestionnaire et économique, la notion de cluster est transposée dans la plupart des politiques publiques des pays industrialisés. Ainsi, dans un cluster français particulier, spécialisé dans les biotechnologies, on observe l'appropriation de cette politique et sa rhétorique. Au-delà de l'attribution d'un label et de services octroyés à ses membres (accompagnement, équipements mutualisés, etc.), le cluster étudié met en mots et en image l'interrelation harmonieuse entre entreprises et laboratoires, productrice d'innovations. Afin d'être conforme à cet imaginaire, il expérimente des formes de mises en relation plurielles. Néanmoins, le procédé de mise en contact reste sensiblement le même : réunir des individus sur des espaces-temps communs et en attendre des coopérations spontanées. Grâce au recours à la méthode d'analyse de réseau, complémentaire des entretiens et observations menés, la thèse montre, qu'à l'épreuve du dispositif, les acteurs manifestent des résistances par leur absence de participation. Au-delà d'un impact limité en termes d'interactions, le processus de clusterisation se révèle même paradoxal. Soumis à des exigences de performance et de confidentialité, propres à leur laboratoire ou à leur entreprise, les individus sont pourtant encouragés à investir les instances de coopération créées par le cluster. Des stratégies d'évitement sont alors à l'œuvre. Les participants esquivent, délibérément, les sujets relatifs à la production scientifique et industrielle, dont l'imbrication est pourtant le fondement du concept de cluster. / Clustering policies appear to be unprecedented and transformative in a world, deemed fossilised, where science and industry are considered insufficiently linked. Clusters, which are geographically based laboratories, companies and training courses in the same disciplinary field, are the products of a wide range rhetoric celebrating their benefits. Forged at the core of transnational political institutions by “expert researchers”, from management and economics science, the concept of cluster is transposed in most public policies in industrialized countries.In that respect, within a specific French biotechnology cluster, we observe an appropriation of such policy and its rhetoric. Beyond the label award and services offered to its members (accompaniment, mutual facilities, etc.), the cluster put into words and images the harmonious interrelation imaginary between companies and laboratories productive of innovations. To comply with such imaginery, the cluster is trying out plural forms of connections and networking. However, the process of contact remains significantly the same: bringing people together in common time spaces and expecting spontaneous cooperation.By using network analysis method, complementary to interviews and observations, the thesis shows that actors resist to cooperation by their lack of participation. Additionally to a limited impact in terms of interactions, the clustering process proves to be contradictory. Subject to performance and confidentiality requirements specific to their laboratory or firm, workers are, paradoxically, encouraged to take part in cooperation institutions created by the cluster. That is when we observe avoidance strategies. Participants deliberately avoid topics related to scientific and industrial production, which interconnection yet is the basis of the cluster concept.

Le travail présenté dans cette thèse prend pour cadre d'analyse les systèmes d'innovation et vise à étudier les effets et les déterminants des collaborations science-industrie. Notre démarche empirique repose sur la combinaison entre une analyse statistique et économétrique de données nationales, et la réalisation d'enquêtes exploratoires sur un territoire donné. Pour déterminer l'impact de ces collaborations sur l'innovation des firmes, nous considérons deux mesures de l'innovation : le dépôt de brevet et l'intensité d'innovation. En distinguant entre deux types de collaborations académiques que sont les collaborations avec les universités et établissements d'enseignement supérieur et les collaborations avec les organismes publics de recherche ou privés à but non-lucratif, il ressort de ce travail que ces collaborations ont un effet positif et significatif sur l'innovation. Les déterminants des collaborations science-industrie sont, quant à eux, analysés à travers deux enquêtes : l'une portant sur les entreprises d'un technopôle, et l'autre réalisée auprès d'enseignants-chercheurs d'une université. Les deux enquêtes révèlent que les entreprises collaborent avec des organismes académiques principalement pour rechercher des solutions aux problèmes qu'elles rencontrent, alors que les chercheurs s'engagent dans ces collaborations pour rester au courant des problématiques actuelles des acteurs économiques. Les résultats de la première enquête établissent en outre un caractère multiscalaire des collaborations science-industrie, ce qui relativise le poids de la proximité géographique permanente au profit d'une proximité géographique temporaire couplée à d'autres types de proximité. La seconde enquête, qui s'intéresse à la propension des chercheurs à collaborer montre que les déterminants de cet engagement diffèrent selon le type de collaboration. / The works presented in this thesis use systems of innovation as an analytical framework and aims to study the effects and determinants of science-industry collaborations. Our empirical approach relies on a combination of statistical and econometric analysis of national data, and exploratory surveys within a given territory. To determine the impact of these collaborations on firms' innovation, we consider two measures of innovation: patenting and innovative performance. Taking into accounts two types of academic collaboration, including collaborations with universities and establishments of higher education and public and nonprofit research organizations, it appears that these collaborations have a significant and positive effect on innovation. On the other hand, determinants of science-industry collaborations are analyzed through two surveys: one covering firms belonging to a technopole, and the other conducted among researchers from a university. Both surveys show that firms collaborate with academic organizations mainly to find solutions to problems they face, while researchers are involved in these collaborations to stay abreast of current issues of economic agents. The results of the first survey establish a mutliscalar nature of science-industry collaborations, which minimize the importance of permanent geographical proximity in favor of a temporary geographical proximity coupled with other types of proximity. The second survey, which focuses on the determinants of researchers' propensity to collaborate, shows that these determinants are different according to the type of collaboration.

This doctoral dissertation studies the effect of economic integration on the performance of firms. The ongoing process of global economic integration has been characterized by dismantling of trade barriers and openness to foreign direct investments (FDI). These changes have not only brought opportunities to firms in terms of market access and the possibility to learn about foreign technologies brought in by foreign counterparts. The new economic environment has also posed new challenges through a greater competitive pressure urging firms to continuously align their production patterns to more efficient business practices. The agility of firms to adjust to external shocks, and hence the potential of countries to benefit from economic integration, does presumably not only depend on the internal assets of firms but may also be influenced by government policies and national institutional settings. This conceptual background constitutes the storyline of the doctoral dissertation.<p><p>Chapter 1 of the dissertation is a step forward in understanding the externalities of foreign direct investments on the economic performance of domestic firms. During the late eighties and early nineties, Spain saw an upswing in foreign direct investments that placed the economic at the top of FDI recipients in Europe. To provide fresh insights into the firm-levels responses to FDI, Chapter 1 investigates the effects of foreign direct investment on the productivity of domestic firms within the same sector of activity as foreign firms, and whether FDI externalities differed depending on their level of technology. The empirical results show that foreign presence had an overall positive effect on the productivity growth of domestic firms. The gains were not, however, evenly distributed across firms. Firms closer to the frontier benefited more from FDI than firms far from the technology frontier. <p><p>A further integration of the world economy with new economic actors, like China and India, has highlighted the need for European firms to climb the quality ladder and shift towards high value added products and greater flexibility in delivering new products in order to survive new competitive threats. Chapter 2 is a theoretical and empirical examination of the role of innovation for the export activities of firms. The intuition is that firms through innovation enhance their access to foreign markets by improving cost competitiveness and the quality of products. The Chapter builds on previous literature to develop a trade model in which firms differ in their propensity to innovate and export based on their underlying productivity. The empirical results, in line with the theoretical model, suggest a positive effect of innovation on the probability of participation in export markets.<p><p>The innovative activities of firms may not only depend on their internal assets, but presumably also on their relations with other actors in the national innovation systems. To understand better the role of firms’ relations with the science sector, Chapter 3 turns to one of the major producers of knowledge –universities- and investigates the factors that contribute to the successful transfer of knowledge from universities to the market. The results from Chapter 3 show that universities with established technology transfer policies, procedures, and large and experienced technology transfer offices perform better. <p><p>Previous chapters demonstrate that innovation gives a competitive edge to firms exploring foreign markets. Chapter 4, which is joint work with economists from France’s central bank, investigates how credit market imperfections affect the expansion and survival of firms in foreign markets, which is essential for the design of policies stimulating aggregate trade and competitiveness. Chapter 4 develops a theoretical model to study the impact of credit constraints on the number of newly served export destinations by firms and their exits from the export market and tests it using French firm-level data. The results show that credit constraints negatively affect the number of newly created export relations and have a negative effect on the probability of exit from the export market.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Cette recherche porte sur les relations de collaboration qu’entretiennent chercheurs etindustriels dans le cadre de projets de R&D collaboratifs soutenus par les pôles decompétitivité – et dans notre cas, le pôle Aerospace Valley – et subventionnés par des aidespubliques. À la différence des travaux anglo-saxons sur les relations entre universités etindustries qui mettent essentiellement l’accent sur le transfert de technologies, le dépôt debrevets et les avantages de tels dispositifs, ce travail s’intéresse davantage à l’expériencecollaborative et aux relations étroites et effectives entre acteurs académiques et industriels. Àl’aide d’une méthodologie qualitative reposant sur des observations et des entretiens, cetterecherche met en lumière différentes manières de collaborer entre les acteurs, l’uneprivilégiant la segmentation des activités et l’autonomie des partenaires, l’autre privilégiantl’interdépendance de ces derniers et l’enchevêtrement technique des activités de R&Dréalisées. Cette seconde manière de collaborer est notamment favorisée par l’existence d’un« travail interstitiel ». À travers un processus de convergence et de formation, les acteursparviennent à créer une communauté d’acteurs et à partager un ensemble de pratiques et dereprésentations leur permettant de se comprendre, d’interagir, de communiquer et de travaillerensemble au-delà de leur hétérogénéité. Encouragés par des « agents de la collaboration »dont le rôle de médiation permet de préserver le dialogue entre les acteurs, les projets de R&Det la collaboration au coeur de ces derniers participent ainsi d’une dynamique coopérative etsocio-économique plus globale et permettent de créer des synergies entre laboratoires derecherche, PME et grandes entreprises. / This research deals with collaborative relationship between researchers and engineersinvolved in R&D collaborative projects, supported by competitiveness cluster – as AerospaceValley – and partly financed by public funds. Instead of studying institutional arrangementsbetween universities and enterprises as most of English and American researches do, thiswork focuses on the collaborative experience and the effective and narrow relations betweenresearchers and engineers. Using a qualitative methodology based on observations andinterviews, this research underlines two different ways to collaborate: one giving priority tosegmented activities and actors’ autonomy; the other giving priority to interdependencybeteween parteners and the intricacy of the different R&D activities. For instance,interdependency and intricacy occure through a form of boundary work. This “interstitialwork” made through a convergence and formation process, helps parteners to create acommunity of actors, practices and representations in order to understand each other, interact,communicate and work together beyond their disparity and heterogeneity. Therefore, helpedby some mediating figures – like the “agent of collaboration” – to preserve the dialoguebetween actors, R&D projects and collaboration contribute to the social and economicaldynamic by encouraging synergies between laboratories, small enterprises and firms.