33 funding of research and technology by local authorities

In 2014, local authorities devoted €1.3 billion to funding research and technology (R&T). This funding went in large part towards property transactions and technology transfer and innovation. Regional councils accounted for two-thirds of R&T funding, while municipalities were the second local contributor.

In 2014, the R&T budget for local authorities accounted for 8% (€1.26 billion) of all State funding for R&D (table 33.01). Regional councils were the main source of local funding, accounting for two-thirds of the local R&T budget. The proportion of departmental funding was 15% and the proportion of funding contributed by municipal councils and public establishments for cooperation between local authorities (EPCI) was 19%. The vast majority of municipal councils transferred their powers in this area to intermunicipal organisations: 17% of local funding for R&T came from EPCIs. In 2015, twelve metropolitan areas in France (Brest, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Nantes, Nice, Rennes, Rouen, Strasbourg and Toulouse) contributed half of the forecast R&T expenditure from EPCIs. The French Overseas departments and territories contributed 2.6% to local R&T funding.

R&T funding was spent first and foremost on property transactions, which accounted for 36% on average per year of the R&T budget in the 2012-2014 period. Property transactions even accounted for over half of the R&T deals that fell under the state-region project contracts (CPER) (62% in 2012, 50% in 2014, the transition year to the new CPER). Over these three years, technology transfer (research in partnership, research commercialisation systems and other innovation aids) absorbed on average 29% of the annual R&T budget. 31% of R&T funding went towards public research (excluding property transactions), i.e. €377 million, with 13% used to support R&D projects, 8% spent on laboratory equipment and 10% on supporting researchers. Finally, 5% of funding was used to share and promote scientific culture and broadband networks designed to support research (chart 33.02).

The transition to the new state-region project contracts was gradual: although CPER funding for local R&T activities was €274m in 2014, only 4% at this stage was used to produce the new 2014-2020 CPER, with 95% relating to the 2007-2013 CPER and 1% to the 2000-2006 CPER.

In metropolitan France, during 2008 and 2009, the Regional councils provided specific support for R&T in terms of their overall budget (chart 33.03). From 2010 to 2014, their annual amount of expenditure on R&T was relatively stable, close to €800 million.

Regional funding for R&T can also be assessed by studying the amount spent on research as a proportion of the regional economy. R&T expenditure as a proportion of the total expenditure of a particular regional council is compared with regional business enterprise (BERD) and government (GOVERD) expenditure on R&D as a proportion of that region’s GDP. Each region is therefore compared against the national situation (chart 33.04).

In 2013, the GERD of metropolitan France accounted for 2.3% of its GDP, while funding for R&T contributed by all regional councils within metropolitan France accounted for 2.8% of their total actual expenditure. Nine of the thirteen regions contributed more than the average for metropolitan France for one or the other indicator. Only the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region contributed double the metropolitan average. The aggregated responses for 2013 from regional councils, according to the new regional scope, showed a smaller disparity between regional efforts than previously, both in terms of funding for R&T and the performance of R&D.

Laurent Perrain