What wake up a certain economic patriotism

Full polemic on the relocations, and whereas Renault has recently abandoned under pressure from the Elysee Palace to make his future Clio in Turkey, the report of the economists Lionel Fontagné and Farid Toubal on foreign direct investment should not go unnoticed. Recently submitted to the Secretary of State for international trade, Anne-Marie Idrac, it seeks especially to measure the impact on the performance in France (activity, employment...) of the implementation of the hexagonal companies abroad. It is clear that "French companies that implanting abroad are the most effective, but this implementation allows them to better exploit their specific advantages and makes them also more effective in France". Otherwise said, foothold abroad is not prejudicial to the national industrial fabric but the reinforces. "That it was the presence abroad or intensity of activity abroad, no negative effect on employment in France is proven", says the report.

A positive impact

It highlights even a company performing a first implantation abroad "has a positive impact on employment in France". A company of same profile but only present on the national territory, this "primo-investor" already had a higher average strength of 10 a year before implanting abroad and gap increases to 25 three years after. The performance gap also applies to the sales and export intensity. In contrast, the productivity did not increase: "there is no effect of learning related to the presence abroad."

The impact on employment and activity depends on all of the type of investment: "the use of groups in France is positively correlated with their activity abroad, except when the subsidiary is located in a country with low salaires.. Relocations have a negative impact on employment (including non-qualified) but out the report, cases are limited and "the company that relocating disappeared more often if it had not taken this decision." Settlements to replicate a production site for access to foreign market on the other hand, have a positive impact on activity and employment in France. But jobs are more qualified. The real nationality of the company also plays: the report notes that a society becomes more effective in exporting is if it is already controlled by a foreign group. Simply because its performance level is already high.

More profitable

Doing reverse road, the report also focuses on the impact of foreign investment in France. And again, the choice of internationalization appears to be beneficial. "Companies located in France and foreign groups are more effective than those belonging to French groups". For example, near a French two and nearly an importer exporter French on two are a subsidiary of a foreign group. The French groups have that for 30 of the trade, the balance from independent companies. So while "French external trade performance is therefore in reality for half of the foreign performance." The hexagonal subsidiaries of foreign industrial groups are also more profitable and generate more jobs. Between 1999 and 2006, their average strength thus "very strongly" increased while employment in the subsidiaries of French groups declined. But how do we explain these differences Simply because foreigners do not come in France to pick up drifting or societies for the attractiveness of the territory (see below) but to get their hands on business "in most large potential". They combine this potential in their own specific benefit, which "allows to fully exploit the latent potential." Clearly, foreigners "gained florets of the industry but this acquisition has revealed the potential of performance of the French targets. What wake up a certain economic patriotism. In the end, large segments of our economy dependent therefore foreign groups, which "constitutes a strong constraint on the autonomy of economic policy".