L’économie de la qualité, en ses secteurs,ses territoires et ses mythes

This text proposes a “régulationniste” framework to analyze the emergence of an “economy of quality” in the agrofood system, that is of a new productive model centered on the differentiation of the qualities. Methodological and analytical propositions of more general reach are confronted with the stylized facts which one can establish in this domain. The notion of productive model allows a joint analysis of the dynamics of the productive systems and of the institutional arrangements. The notion of “space of regulation” refers to the analysis of the “sector-based” and “territorial” dimensions of the mode of regulation. Sectors (agrofood chains considered both as productive and governance structures) and territories (considered in the same dimensions) are co-constructed. Transformation of the regime of accumulation integrating immaterial values modifies both nature and boundaries of sectors and territories. Two main lines of innovation appear, the one aiming at specifying always more in depth the functional characteristics of the food services by exploiting the scientific and technological developments, the other integrating identity attributes. Crisis of particular nature characterize this evolution.     

La territorialisation des activités scientifiques dans le Sud-Ouest européen (France,Espagne, Portugal)

For more than twenty years, most of European countries are involved in a process of regional decentralization of their higher education systems. This process follows a previous set of universities creations in the sixties years, answering the increase of students number. We examine here three countries of South-West of Europe (Spain, France and Portugal) and we link the history of universities creation in different regions and towns and the study of scientific publications. This allow us to evaluate the effects of the territorialization process on the current “scientific map”.     

TIC,diffusion spatiale des connaissances et agglomération

The decrease in information costs induced by the development of ICT would make innovative activities free of spatial constraint. However, based on both the recent theoretical approaches and the first empirical observations, this paper rejects the idea of the end of distance. The economic geography models, as well as the analyses of ICT impact on interpersonal relations, consider opposite forces that may generate either a spatial dispersion of economic activities or conversely a reinforcement of agglomerations. The empirical studies likely to evaluate these forces now essentially highlight the complementarity between ICT and face to face contacts, predicting the somewhat persistence of distance.     

Planification de l’offre de soins et télémédecine

The existence of geographical disparities in the French supply of medical care begs the question of the adjustment between needs and effective access to medical care. This access depends on the sharing out of financial resources, first between regions and second between medical infrastructures in each region. The two priorities of the government in the field of Health, which are equality in medical care access and the control of medical public spending, may obviously be conflicting. The concentration of medical activities in some regions and the agglomeration of specialized hospitals in urban centers can be observed. So the methods used by the government to plan medical supply seem to be inefficient in resolving this geographical imbalance. The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the field of Health appears to be an innovative solution. In particular, the development of telemedicine may resolve the problem of medical supply concentration. The first contribution of the paper is to develop a theoretical model in order to explain the French disparities in hospital medical care access between urban and rural areas in the same region. It describes the allocation of public funds to hospitals in a region, which determines the medical care supply in this region. We show that the optimal allocation mechanism leads to large disparities between the two areas in terms of quality of medical care access and of utility. Second, we introduce telemedicine into our model to measure its effect on the inequality in medical care access. We show that telemedicine increases regional utility only if the urban area has a great advantage in terms of medical infrastructures. This result implies that telemedicine has to be considered as an alternative to public policies attempting to re-allocate the funds between the two areas. We then propose some public policy recommendations concerning the development of telemedicine.     

L’évolution de la pensée géographique au 20e siècle

This paper traces the involvement of theoretical ideas in the history of human geography during the last century. The authors address major theoretical advances and the practices they begot both in Europe and in the US since the days of Ratzel, Reclus and Semple. The paper is also one of the last publications by Peter Gould, who died in 2000. Since Peter loved all things French, we are convinced that he would have been proud of the translated essay.     

Développement et gouvernance aux échelles locales et métropolitaines : une analyse comparative nord-américaine

In this article, we present the results of a study of the linkages between local initiatives and metropolitan institutions in their respective practice for development and governance. The research was carried out on four North-Americans cities —Boston and Pittsburgh in United-States ; Montreal and Toronto in Canada. The results lead us to mitigate our judgment about the participation of local initiatives in the overall regulation of metropolitan space. Beyond a local influence on some aspects of development related to social questions, our study do not permit to valid a popular hypothesis in liberal circles of thought which sees in the development of civil society organizations a real improvement in the capacity of the civil society to really participate in the metropolitan mechanisms of development and governance. At the very most, these organizations create local innovative strategies that procure external resources for the fight against exclusion.     

Le conseil en agriculture : un investissement immatériel entre développement sectoriel et développement territorial

Agriculture is subject to political measures that follow, on the one hand, a sector-based development rationale, and on the other hand, a territorial development rationale. The confrontation of both rationales generates new requirements concerning intangible investments in agriculture: (i) there is a growing demand for advice as well as for new knowledge, which would make it possible to accommodate various regulatory instructions that are not necessarily compatible. In addition to this, (ii) public and semi-public technical support organisms should address a broader public. But analyses of ongoing reorganisations in five selected EU countries reveal that sector-based frameworks are insufficiently adapted to these requirements of territorial development. This ill-adaptation is nowhere compensated by emerging local institutions which would enable people having a farming activity to benefit from the new type of intangible investments they need.     

Les entreprises rurales et développement régional en République populaire de Chine. Partie 1 : le contexte institutionnel et les réformes économiques

This paper tries to analyse the consequences of the economic reforms on local economies in China. It shows that the two main reforms —the household responsibility system and the decentralisation— gave the districts the potential in experiencing an important development, but meanwhile, that the power gained by local authorities has provoked the appearance of new risks and uncertainties. The non-recognition of the property rights, and the local authorities’ position of control can explain this ambiguity, because these authorities are the ones that give access (or not) to production factors. The risks are also due to a different conception of the enterprise, which is not only a location for production and profit, but also for redistribution. Finally, this central position of local authorities explains the cellular nature of the Chinese economy and implies to resort to a territorial and network analysis.     

Activités immatérielles et relationnelles : quels nouveaux enjeux de régulation pour les secteurs et les territoires ?

The paper aims to shed a renewed light on structural obstacles restraining growth by focusing on the dynamics of intangible and relational activities and on the possible obstacles to their own development. This leads to consider how crucial can be the role of institutional measures in overcoming such obstacles. These measures have to do with sectors and territories considered as historical outcomes in which externalities can be dealt with. They also have consequences on the way competences and borders of these sectors and territories have been defined until now. Such a process takes place in a necessity to consider governance as the new relevant logic of action.     

Wildlife Co-Management in the Bénoué National Park-Complex,Cameroon: A Bumpy Road to Institutional Development

The ongoing efforts to set up wildlife co-management in Northern Cameroon are investigated. To this end, a situation analysis of legal, social, economic, and organizational factors was performed. It thus appeared that participatory management has been slow to institutionalize due to inadequate legislation, poor planning, and insufficient policy formulation. Building on the results, suggestions are made with reference to the ecosystem approach. It is argued that wildlife collaborative management should be a triadic convention involving state agencies, the private enterprise (professional hunters), and the civil society (community of local users and facilitating nongovernmental organizations) in the sharing of roles and benefits.