Entrepreneurship, the last chance for endogenous development ?

Résumé 0

The "new economic geography" that first appeared in the 1990s suggests that local endogenous potential can foster economic development. Policy-makers are advised to create a positive business climate by using new growth factors such as knowledge, confidence and cooperation networks combined with old factors (land, capital, labour) in order to promote the hidden potential of certain areas. Furthermore, international organizations (OECD, European Council, World Bank, IMF) have also registered this approach in their programmes. However, results to date have been relatively inconclusive. For Jouen (2007), the capitalization and implementation of successful experience remains problematic because it relies on the personalities of the proponents. Thus, regions are variously receptive, while return on investment is extremely low in the long term. In addition, people are often reluctant to get organized. Our paper analyzes the actual 'endogenous' tools related to the specific entrepreneurship topic, and indicates that these objections have not been confirmed. We verify the existence of both efficient and transferable models to support entrepreneurship (in response to market failures, to enhance resources, etc.), We take an in-depth look at two specific tools, namely business angel networks and loans on trust in a specific region of France. For these tools to be effective, it is important to clarify the methods of implementation, including seeking explanations for their qualities, presumed common to such models: i.e. locally built and appropriate with local 'pacts', and 'meshing' various resources, including peer learning. Last but not least, we want to investigate the possibility of including these tools in regional public policies with significant results.