La dimension spatiale des collaborations pour l'innovation : une analyse sur données CIFRE (1981-2006)

The aim of this paper is to provide new insights about the dynamic of the geography of knowledge collaborations and structural effects, such as size effects. We propose, in a first part of the paper, a theoretical model of partners adoption that highlights the potential roles in the geography of collaborations of both, the geography of resources and the history of partnerships (lock in effects). Thanks to a database that collects 14 000 Cifre contracts signed between 1981 and 2006, we realize, in a second part, two complementary econometric tests. Three important results are revealing : the geography of partnerships is structured by inertia, regional, size effects.