Growth patterns and economic performance of french manufacturing firms

Since early 1994, there have been signs of an upturn in economic activity . The strength and scope of the recovery depend to a large extent on the ability of companies to exploit their competitiveness, which is dependent on the decisions they take today, particularly where both tangible and intangible investments are concerned. The aim of this article is to identify specific types of economic behaviour and to relate them to companies' investment, and particularly intangible investment, decisions. It is first of all necessary to define competitiveness and to suggest a measurement indicator suited to aggregated accounting data. The link between competitiveness and profitability will be specified and the diversity of the companies will then be highlighted.