Partner und Internationale Organisationen
(Englisch)
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AT, HR, CY, CZ, DK, FI, DE, EL, HU, IE, IT, LV, LT, NL, NO, PL, SK, ES, SE, CH, TR, UK
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Abstract
(Englisch)
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The evolution of the financial system in Switzerland during the twenty last years changed deeply the possibilities for firms to get access to finance. Through the process on disintermediation, big firms gained a privileged access to capital. On the other side. SMEs are more and more confronted to the credit rationing. The results of this double evolution encouraged the subsidiarization of SMEs in groups, either by voluntary or hostile acquisition or by fusion. The general hypothesis of the re-search is that this subsidiarization process transforms the strategy of firms and has impacts on the spatial and economic organisation of Switzerland. The project consists in three distinct parts. The first one is dedicated to the analysis of the evolution of regional disparities in Switzerland during the twenty last years. Fiscal competition between the Swiss Cantons, regional specialization and the increasing weight of cities appear to be relevant fac-tors to explain the evolution of these disparities. The second part of the project deals with ownership relations of firms (corporate ownership) and with the interpretation of these relations. Our hypothesis is that due to changes in financing circuits, different regions occupy very different positions regarding controlling relations. The empirical work is a spatial quantitative analysis of corporate control. It shows that international relations of controlling and of controlled firms vary a lot following regions and play an important role. Thus, regions form both hierarchical and competing systems in Switzerland. The final part consists in giving a qualitative understanding of controlling relations. Interviews have been led in industrial subsidiaries recently acquired by groups in the Jura region in order to under-stand the concrete consequences of the subsidiarization. Very differentiated practices have been identified. In some cases, subsidiarization appears to be an impoverishment of the autonomy of the firm and a cause of decline, while in other cases, the connection to a group fuelled the newly bought SME with competences, financial means and opened new markets. The main theoretical conclusion has to see with the driving actors of regional development. While polarisation theories or spatial di-vision of labour theories focuses on large firms, endogenous development approaches were putting emphasis on autonomous and flexible SMEs. Our research shows that today, financially controlled subsidiaries appear as unavoidable players. They combine the advantage of the flexibility of SMEs and the force of being connected to powerful financial and / or industrial players.
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