French defense-industrial and defense-technological policies have been important factors in regional economic development. The process of downward adjustment begun in the late 1990s will have major effects on defense-dependent regions. However, conversion has only been given a minor role. The study of two quite different defense-dependent regions, Brittany and Paris, indicates that the strong, vested idiosyncratic interests of large sections of the defense industry, combined with an overly high concentration of political, economic, and social activities at the national level, are the major obstacles to a significant regional conversion policy.
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