Centre Lillois d'Etudes et de Recherches Sociologiques et Economiques

This article argues that the translation of books may be fruitfully understood as constituting a cultural world-system. The working of this system, based on a core-periphery structure, accounts for the uneven flows of translations between language groups as well as for the varying role of translations within language groups. The final part outlines how this general sociological model may be further developed.

Despite the significance of services in the economic statistics, economic theories of innovation have tended to ignore them, or to assume that innovation in services consists of little more than adopting innovations developed in industry. Subjects this view to a critique based on three questions: Why is innovation in services misunderstood or neglected in economic theory? What do field observations indicate were the principal forms of innovation in services? How can these observations help to broaden and enrich the economic theory of industrial innovation?

Organizations performing non-routine, innovative, often knowledge-intensive tasks, for example, professional partnerships need a rather flat, collegial, and non-bureaucratic structure. This book examines cooperation among partners in a US corporate law firm and provides a grounded theory of collective action among rival peers, or collegiality. Members (partners and associates) are portrayed as independent entrepreneurs who build social niches in their organization and cultivate status competition among themselves. This behaviour allows them to fulfil their commitment to an extremely constraining partnership agreement and generates informal social mechanisms (bounded solidarity, lateral control, oligarchic regulation) that help a flat organization govern itself: maintain individual performance, even for tenured partners; capitalize knowledge and control quality; monitor and sanction opportunistic free-riding; solve the ‘too many chefs’ problem; balance the powers of rainmakers and schedulers; and integrate the firm in spite of many centrifugal forces. These mechanisms and the solutions they provide are examined using a broadly-conceived structural approach combining theory-driven network analysis, ethnography of task forces performing knowledge-intensive work, and analysis of management and internal politics in the firm. The author presents a theory of the collegial organization that generalizes its results to all kinds of partnerships.

Ce livre explore un grand renversement dans trois secteurs de l'intervention publique : les politiques d'insertion et d'accompagnement du chômage, le travail de médiation urbaine dans les cités difficiles et l'intervention sociale dans les collèges. Mais quel renversement ? Celui de la dette sociale. La société n'est plus la première redevable envers les individus, ces derniers doivent faire montre de leur adhésion pour être protégés, il ne suffit plus « de courber l'échine » pour bénéficier de l'État-providence. Le client passif du travail social est détrôné par la figure de l'usager coopérant. Dans cette vaste entreprise de responsabilisation, l'intervention sociale redevient une question politique.

The purpose of this paper is to launch a debate on a broader meaning of the term ‘innovation’ and its significance for local and regional development. Innovation and related economic and social categories have been at the centre of policy discussions on the future of the European economy and society. Reflections on the innovative and learning region (Territorial Innovation Models; TIMs) have underpinned regional and local development policies. Yet dissatisfaction with the technologist and market-competition-led development concept of the TIMs is growing and today its shortcomings are well known. But to formulate an alternative based on a different ontology requires a multidimensional reflection on the pillars of territorial development. The first section briefly refers to the critical evaluations of the literature on regional innovation and the so-called Territorial Innovation Models. The second section returns to basic questions about the meaning of regional economic development and innovation. It puts forward community development based on social innovation as an alternative to market-led territorial development. The third section examines the consequences of the community ontology for the definition of a number of basic concepts. Categories such as capital, knowledge, learning, evolution, culture and so on receive a different meaning in a model where the economic is only one dimension of the overall dynamics of community development. The fourth section integrates the role of power relations and the articulation between various spatial scales and institutional settings into the community-development approach. The final section dwells on the consequences of this community-oriented territorial approach for contemporary research agendas on local and regional development policies and strategies.

Preface: William Baumol, Contributors: C. Antonelli, A. Barcet, W.J. Baumol, K. Blind, J. Bröchner, J.R. Bryson, J.A. Camacho, P. Daniels, P. den Hertog, F. Djellal, B. Edvardsson, R. Evangelista, E. Fairhurst, O. Furrer, J. Gadrey, F. Gallouj, M. García-Goñi, L. Green, A. Gustafsson, D. Harrisson, C. Hipp, J. Howells, F.M. Hull, J.-L. Klein, P. Kristensson, P. Leduc Browne, S. Lenfle, P.-Y. Léo, S. Massini, C. Midler, I. Miles, M. Miozzo, M.-C. Monnoyer-Longé, P.P. Patrucco, P. Petit, J. Philippe, M. Rodriguez, F. Rossi, L. Rubalcaba, M. Savona, J. Sundbo, J. Tidd, M. Toivonen, A. Trigo, X. Vence, P. Windrum, L. Wittel, D. Wójcik, P. Wood

On the basis of several nationalandinternational studies in thefield of business and professional services the aim of this paperistoreconsider the core question of provider-customer interface. It first shows that the question of the relationships between internal and external business services may not only be posed in terms of substitution but also in terms of complementarity and interaction. It then analyses the interface as a ‘moment of truth’(i.e. as a process of interaction, as a form of organisation, and as part of both the client's and the consultant's value chain) a ‘moment of trust’ (based upon various modes of interaction and various logics of interface) and a moment of thrust (thanks to innovation).

This largely methodological paper focuses on how to define the social economy and its governance at the local and especially the urban neighbourhood level. A distinction is made between essentialist and holistic definitions. The second section appraises the potential contribution of various current ideas in institutional economics and economic sociology to the definition of the social economy and its governance. It is found that 'old' and 'new' institutionalism in particular offer useful tools, including the holistic methodology as applied by John Commons. The third section elaborates on the analytical elements required for defining the social economy from a holistic perspective, stressing the role of essentialist abstract categories, the role of local culture and articulation between spatial scales. First, we show how the notion of social capital defined through a 'holistic approach' can enrich the definition of the social economy. Secondly, we stress the importance of empirical investigations in feeding into the holistic definitional work. The fourth section concludes the paper by enhancing the necessary dialogue between an abstract-essentialist and a contextualised holistic definition of the social economy at the neighbourhood level.

International audience

RÉSUMÉ Cet article propose une analyse de la bifurcation à partir d’un corpus d’une soixantaine de récits de vie recueillis auprès de personnes en réorientation professionnelle. La reconversion professionnelle volontaire appréhendée comme une situation choisie par l’individu montre des cassures dans les trajectoires biographiques marquées par des changements d’univers professionnels, des ruptures familiales, un éclatement de la sphère relationnelle, et une perte de repères du soi. La thèse soumise ici est que le sens de l’événement n’est interprétable qu’à l’intérieur d’une biographie particulière, elle-même inscrite dans un plan de sens à géométrie variable défini par des conditions objectives de contexte où les événements surviennent et déclenchent la réinterprétation du sens, imprimant une direction au devenir de la trajectoire. Le sens semble révisable à l’infini, il est contingent dans la bifurcation du regard porté par les autruis significatifs tour à tour déclencheurs ou soutiens de la reconversion professionnelle volontaire.

In several countries, the remarkable development of the ‘green economy’ in recent years has gone hand in hand with the implementation of strategies of integration (more or less rapid and thorough) of public policies linked to the environment. This policy integration strategy is generally a necessary condition for the encouragement and viable development of new environmental technologies and competitive green sectors. However, as emerges from the extended review of the theoretical and empirical literature on which this paper is based, the success of this policy integration strategy is based more on the design, timing, coherence (spatial and temporal) and the pragmatism of policies undertaken by the public authorities, than on the scale of the resources committed – even if the latter count.

We begin with an overview of innovation in services using two existing data-sets. In Chapter 2 we compare the extent and orientation of innovation in services and manufacturers across Europe using the Innobarometer survey. In Chapter 3 we draw on the second European Community Innovation Survey (CIS-2) and look primarily at patterns of innovation within services, highlighting in particular how these patterns vary within and between various service ‘sectors’. In Chapters 4, 5 and 6 we report the results of the original research undertaken for this study. Chapter 4 introduces the four ‘sectors’ that were analysed for this study. These ‘sectors’ were: road transportation and logistics; information processing; care for the elderly; and design. In Chapter 4, we provide an overview of these activities and outline, using case studies some of the innovations that have been introduced within them. Chapter 5 then presents the findings of the questionnaire survey which was undertaken for this study. The results pertaining to each of the sectors are outlined in turn. Chapter 6 then attempts to draw the evidence together, through the use of multivariate statistical methods, to examine the ‘drivers of innovation’ in services. Chapter 7 looks at the empirical evidence concerning the factors hampering innovation in services. This chapter draws on evidence from the Innobarometer, the second European Community Innovation Survey, and the ‘Four Sector Survey’ which was undertaken for this project.Chapter 8 concludes the report with a summary of the findings and an outline of policy related suggestions.

Financialization is studied here from a microeconomic viewpoint. Following Stockhammer (2004a), the theory of the firm has been amended by introducing agency problems and class analysis between shareholders and managers. Further to that, I propose two alternative configurations for incorporation into the theory: the first views financialization as a constraint for the managerial firm, while the second discusses shareholders’ interests and integrates them as an end in itself for the finance-dominated firm. My conclusions focus on finance-oppressed accumulation, financial fragility, and potential macroeconomic instability. JEL classification: D21, E12, G30

Pseudomonas brassicacearum was isolated as a major root-colonizing population from Arabidopsis thaliana. The strain NFM421 of P. brassicacearum undergoes phenotypic variation during A. thaliana and Brassica napus root colonization in vitro as well as in soil, resulting in different colony appearance on agar surfaces. Bacteria forming translucent colonies (phase II cells) essentially were localized at the surface of young roots and root tips, whereas wild-type cells (phase I cells) were localized at the basal part of roots. The ability of phase II cells to spread and colonize new sites on root surface correlates with over-production of flagellin as evidenced by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of surface proteins and microsequencing. Moreover, phase II cells showed a higher ability to swim and to swarm on semisolid agar medium. Phase I and phase II cells of P. brassicacearum NFM421 were tagged genetically with green fluorescent protein and red fluorescent protein. Confocal scanning laser microscopy was used to localize phase II cells on secondary roots and root tips of A. thaliana, whereas phase I cells essentially were localized at the basal part of roots. These experiments were conducted in vitro and in soil. Phenotypic variation on plant roots is likely to be a colonization strategy that may explain the high colonization power of P. brassicacearum.

Pour cerner les expériences contemporaines de la domination, il est nécessaire de croiser deux grands axes analytiques. Le premier oblige à tenir compte d’une part, de formes de domination de plus en plus ouvertement perçues comme des contraintes insurmontables et de l’autre, d’expressions paradoxales de la domination se maintenant au travers d’étranges consentements critiques. Le deuxième aspect invite à distinguer deux grands mécanismes d’inscription subjective : aux formes traditionnelles de l’assujettissement s’ajoutent de nouveaux processus de responsabilisation. Une fois présentés, ces axes permettent de dessiner quatre grands idéaux-types de l’expérience de la domination : l’inculcation, l’implosion, l’injonction, la dévolution.

Envisager la mesure des performances sur le registre impératif de la métrologie, comme c'est de plus en plus le cas dans les économies contemporaines, n'a pas uniquement un effet « réducteur ». En opérant par les nombres, ce sont les formes même de la prescription politique et de la vie en société qui sont transformées. Ignorer les formes pluralistes de l'évaluation (notamment de l'évaluation des politiques publiques), revient à faire disparaitre des registres de l'efficacité ce qui faisait valoir l'intérêt général. Exit des mesures de la performance d'un État « prestataire de services » les dimensions civiques ou civiles d'accès aux services pour tous, de bien-être par le travail, de maintien et de consolidation des droits du public. Un État prestataire de service agit selon une modalité qui se caractérise par une injonction permanente à l'incitation au travail et à l'accroissement de son intensité ; par une représentation économiciste et non citoyenne de l'individu : par une injonction à l'évaluation des performances de ces homo oeconomicus ; et par la fin de la reconnaissance et de la garantie des valeurs républicaines à l'instar de celle de l'égalité et de la citoyenneté. Comment a-t-on pu en arriver là ? C'est ce que propose d'explorer cet ouvrage qui fournit aussi des pistes de réflexion pour sortir, transitoirement et définitivement, de la performance totale.

Contributors: William J. Baumol, Jacques De Bandt, Pim Den Hertog, Ludovic Dibiaggio, Jean Gadrey, Faïz Gallouj, Bernard Chane Kune, Emmanuel Lazega, Ian Miles, Nanno Mulder, Pascal Petit, Maria Savona, Edward N. Wolff

Abstract The aim of this conceptual paper is to study the origin of the entrepreneur's function. We examine the construction of the entrepreneur's ‘resource potential’ (the set of knowledge, relations and financial resources gathered together by the entrepreneur) and the role of the socio-economic background in this matter. The ‘organic square of entrepreneurship’ (resource potential, market, economic organization and public policy) links the individual characteristics of the entrepreneur and the environmental factors to explain entrepreneurship. It is also a tool to study entrepreneurship in different social, economic and political context. We illustrate this role through the analysis of the French case, which reveals the assets and limits of the entrepreneurial context. We particularly show the importance of taking account of the structural characteristics of the productive system in the design of future entrepreneurship policies. JEL codes L26, L1, L53

Le concept d'utopie, à la mode aujourd'hui, est-il opérationalisable pour une sociologie historique ? Admis qu'un type-idéal de l'utopie, décrit plus loin, peut revêtir valeur heuristique, qu'en est-il du monachisme comme utopie, et quels prolongements cette mise en perspective offre-t-elle pour l'histoire comme pour la sociologie ? Le présent article n'a pas d'autre ambition que de répondre à ces questions, par le biais d'un exercice à la fois théorique et pratique.

We use harmonized survey data from the Luxembourg Income Study to assess the redistributive impact of taxes and transfers across 22 OECD countries over the 1999–2016 period. After imputing missing tax data (employer social‐security contributions), we measure the reduction in income inequality from four key levers of tax and transfer systems: the average tax rate, tax progressivity, the average transfer rate, and transfer targeting. Our methodological improvements produce the following results. First, tax redistribution dominates transfer redistribution (excluding pensions) in most countries. Second, targeting explains very little of the cross‐country variation in inequality reduction. In contrast, both tax progressivity and the average tax rate have large impacts on redistribution. Last, there seem to be political tradeoffs: high average tax rates are not found together with highly progressive tax systems.