Autonomie différenciée des systèmes de production territoriaux

This paper presents a model of autonomous territorial system of production and an empirical application to the Swiss area of « Espace Mittelland ». The first part defines the concept of autonomy as a dynamic organizational process based on sequences of relations. An autonomous territorial system of production articulates three « spheres »: the industrial, territorial and institutional spheres. The model makes it possible to give an account of the coherence of each sphere as well as the forces and the weaknesses of the autonomy of the system as a whole. The second part presents an application of this model and highlights its contributions for the understanding of the autonomy of the territorial systems of production. The empirical analysis shows that different territorial systems of production have differentiated autonomies whose sources strongly vary. There does not exist one standard structure conferring autonomy. It rests on sequential relations articulating all three spheres. Moreover, the structure and the internal coherence of each sphere (industrial, territorial and institutional) allow to identify certain forces and weaknesses of the system. It is necessary to consider the three spheres in an interdependent way and in a dynamical perspective. For example, certain territorial systems of production are characterized by a complete chain of added value, therefore by a relatively autonomous industrial sphere. However, for lack of coherence and a bad articulation with the other spheres (territorial and/or institutional), these systems are in fact not or not very autonomous. Classification JEL : R 110, R 300, R 580, P 520, O 180.