Regional firms : concepts, uses, statistical measurement

This paper puts the interest of regional firms analysis in relation to existing statistical data and the structure of the economy in terms of location. The various possible approaches to what a regional firm is are described, focusing on providing them with a precise definition and an operational measure with the INSEE databases. Indicators are also proposed to measure the pertinency of the definitions used, regardless of the region and the population of selected firms. These measures are illustrated by an example on SMEs in the Occitanie region. All these elements provide a framework that allows the statistician to decide on the desirability of the study of regional firms and the definition to focus on the issues and local specificities.