Executives and Business Services: Key Factors of French Metropolitan Growth

Abstract

France has experienced since the 1970s a huge change in employment trends concerning activity sectors but also location patterns. Research by the authors tends to show that the business service sector plays an effective driving role in these dynamics, particularly during the last decade. It seems that new geographical dynamics are now emerging: after a period characterised by an overwhelming tendency to concentrate on the Parisian pole, some diffusion shifts are appearing in favour of second rank metropolitan areas. Their attractiveness depends mainly on executives, particularly inside the business service sector. The variety of activities inside this sector, which was clearly playing the main role at the regional level, seems to be just a second rank variable when explaining the economic dynamism of the metropolis.

Notes

1. These 13 main metropolitan areas are (ranked by demographic size in 1999): Lyon, Marseilles, Lille, Toulouse, Nice, Bordeaux, Nantes, Strasbourg, Toulon, Douai-Lens, Rennes, Rouen, Grenoble

2. Metropolitan areas are here defined as urban areas having more than 200,000 inhabitants in 1999.

3. With the exception of surveyors and, in 1999 temporary employment agencies and industrial laundry.

4. The addition of their absolute values gives: 1.58 million jobs differentiating the metropolitan dynamics due to the differences in sector-related pattern (share effect) vs 1.00 million ‘displaced’ due to a shift effect.

5. A shift and share analysis conducted on the 1982–1990 period gives summed share effects (0.76 millions of jobs) higher than the shift ones (0.42 millions). Between 1990 and 1999 share effects remain roughly at the same level (0.77 millions) but in the meantime shift effects ‘displaced’ 0.89 millions of jobs.

6. The basic sector groups together: agriculture, mining, manufacturing industry, transports, wholesaling, hotel trade, research, foreign representatives, holdings and consular organisations, merchant business services (consulting or others). Government service employment has been considered as being ‘induced’ unless it exceeds the average allowance per inhabitant. The excess in this case is added to the economic base.

7. Induced activities (or urban) group together: building, utilities, banks and insurance, real estate agencies, retail trading, services to households, teaching, health care, social and collective services. Government Service employment is also counted as being ‘induced’ unless it is over-represented, and only for the excess part.

8. Regression with the two variables only leaves the urban employment development with a partial R² of 0.057.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pierre-Yves Léo

Pierre-Yves Léo, GREFI, Faculty of Economics, Paul Cézanne University of Aix-Marseilles (UPCAM), 15–19 allée Claude Forbin, 13627 Aix en Provence Cedex 01, France. Email: [email protected]

Jean Philippe

Pierre-Yves Léo and Jean Philippe, GREFI, Faculty of Economics, Paul Cézanne University of Aix-Marseilles (UPCAM), 15–19 allée Claude Forbin, 13627 Aix en Provence Cedex 01, France. Email: [email protected].