Les déterminants de la fréquence du face-à-face dans les relations interentreprises : une analyse empirique

This paper seeks to identify the influence of ICT, the nature of knowledge and spatial and non-spatial proximities between the parties on the frequency of face to face interactions in customer-provider relationships. Data come from a 2008 survey of 2000 representative SMEs located in the Brittany Region. The results are not clear about the role of the nature of knowledge, but highlight the importance of the spatial distance between the partners and of ICT which both reduce physical encounters and of several forms of non spatial proximities: if confidence reduces the need for face to face encounters, when partners know each other from a long time they physically meet more frequently. These results underline the social nature of inter-firms relationship and its influence on the need for face to face.