Sensitivity to the local economic fabric and company performance.

Summary This thesis is devoted to the sensitivity of the company to the Local Economic Fabric. The preliminary chapter presents a path leading to three research questions targeting three aspects of this relationship, at the local, European and global levels. The first article asks the following question: what is the perception, by company managers, of the sensitivity of their company to the Local Economic Fabric (LEF), and of its impact on its performance? This study is based on 25 semi-structured interviews conducted with managers in the departments of the two Savoie (France). The results show a difficulty for managers to link sensitivity to the TEL and performance, and highlight the determinants of sensitivity. The second article addresses the following question: what is the impact of the company's sensitivity to the local economic fabric on its performance? The study sample is composed of 252 listed European companies rated by the extra financial rating agency VIGEO between 2004 and 2011. The results highlight a convex effect, first negative then positive, of the sensitivity to the TEL on the accounting performance. It is therefore necessary for companies to invest heavily in the local market to detect an improvement in their performance. Regarding the stock market performance at the three-year horizon, the low-sensitive firms outperform the high-sensitive firms and the market. Finally, the third paper answers the question: how has the geographic concentration of venture capital investments evolved and what are the determinants of this? The sample studied tracks investments within OECD countries and the BRICS over the period 1970 - 2013. The results highlight four trends for four groups of countries, as well as a positive effect of the quantity of investment on concentration, especially in the period preceding the internet crisis. Conversely, the level of financial development of countries reduces geographic concentration.