We investigate co-operative innovative activity in four major European countries, France, Germany, Spain and the UK, using internationally comparable firm-level data for manufacturing and service sectors. We examine the roles of knowledge flows, cost- and risk-sharing and public financial support in firms' decisions to collaborate. Our results suggest that firms which place greater value on external information flows are more likely to co-operate with the research base than with other firms and that firms facing appropriability problems are more likely to co-operate with the research base and with upstream and downstream firms than with direct competitors. We find evidence for Spain to suggest that firms collaborate to overcome risks and financial constraints. We also find that receipt of public support is positively related to undertaking collaborative innovation. In line with the focus of policy, this relationship is strongest for co-operation with the research base.co-operative innovation, spillovers, joint ventures,

and the Banque de France conference on Firms' financing and default risk during and after the crisis, Paris, February 2012), for their comments.1 Résumé : Cet article étudie l'accès des PME françaises indépendantes au crédit bancaire. Il vise notamment à déterminer si l'évolution observée du crédit bancaire pendant les années récentes a résulté d'une baisse de la demande de crédit consécutive au ralentissement de l'activité des entreprises et de leurs projets d'investissement ou plutôt d'une diminution de l'offre, traduisant alors un rationnement du crédit lié à un comportement plus prudent des banques en matière d'octroi de crédits. A partir de l'analyse d'un échantillon comportant environ 60,000 PME, nous aboutissons à la conclusion que, malgré un comportement plus restrictif des banques, les PME françaises n'ont pas souffert d'un rationnement marqué du crédit depuis 2008. La demande est la cause essentielle de la baisse observée des crédits aux PME. Ce résultat, qui va à l'encontre du discours selon lequel les PME auraient souffert d'un fort rationnement du crédit pendant la crise, est confirmé par les résultats de diverses enquêtes françaises et européennes menées récemment sur l'accès des PME au crédit bancaire.Mots-clés : Rationnement du crédit, modèle de déséquilibre, PME.Abstract : This paper focuses on the access of independent French SMEs to bank lending and analyzes whether the observed evolution of credit to SMEs over the recent period was "demand driven" as a result of the decrease in firms' activity and investment projects or was "supply driven" with an increase in credit "rationing" stemming from a more cautious behavior of banks. Based on a sample of around 60,000 SMEs, we come to the conclusion that, despite the stronger standards used by banks when granting credit, French SMEs do not appear to have been strongly affected by credit rationing since 2008. This result goes against the common view that SMEs suffered from a strong credit restriction during the crisis but is perfectly in line with the results of several surveys about the access to finance of SMEs recently conducted in France.

We are grateful to Dominique Foray and Fred Gault for encouraging us strongly to perform this study, and we thank SESSI ("Service des Etudes et Statistiques Industrielles") for giving us access to the French CIS3 data. We have also benefited from comments by Rachel Griffith,

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors, and not necessary those of the institutions to whom they belong to. The authors thank M.Mourant from SBF who made available to them the CAC 40 notifications and M.Davydoff from SBF, M. Champarnaud from COB and M.Thollon Pommerol from Insee for their advice in gathering information. Claude Truy from the Bank of France gave very valuable research assistance and perspicacity in putting together the information on financial institutions. Terms of use: Documents in 2 SUMMARYThis paper provides an overview on ownership structure and voting power in France, both in terms of institutional and legal framework and of quantitative analysis. If cross share holdings in large groups were a characteristic of the French model, called «financial core», and had been extended in 1986, with the first wave of privatizations, the foundations of this model seem to be weakened. This organization has not been able to really prevent the increasing of foreign presence in French capitalization.Looking at listed firms and CAC40 firms, and at a large dataset of unlisted firms, this paper shows that concentration of direct ownership and voting power is very high in France, even for listed and CAC40 firms.The second direct owner lags far behind the first one and the category «families» plays a major role in the detention of non-listed firms. The average ownership stakes of banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions are relatively low, except for CAC40 firms.

‡ The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the Banque de France. We would like to thank the anonymous referee as well as René Garcia and Timo Wollmershäuser for their helpful comments and suggestions.