Kevin Randy Chemo Dzukou will defend his PhD in front of the following jury:

• Lota Tamini, Professor, Laval University in Québec (Canada), referee
• José De Sousa, Professor, Paris Sud University, referee
• Charlotte Emlinger, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech (USA), examinator
• François-Charles WOLFF, Professor, Nantes University, examinator
• Karine Latouche, Senior Researcher, INRAE, supervisor
• Sabine Duvaleix, Lecturer, Agrocampus-Ouest, co-supervisor

Abstract

The process of firm growth - in terms of productivity or export performance - is a major concern for policy makers. ln this context, innovations play a crucial role in stimulating firm performance. This thesis empirically studies the impact of "product" innovation (as distinct from "process" innovation) on the performance of firms. The literature review presented in Chapter 2 describes the mechanisms that govern the relationship between innovation and productivity and the relationship between innovation and firms' export behaviour. Chapter 3 presents a description of the notion of innovation and its measurement in the economic literature. We present Global New Product Database (GNPD), the database we use to construct an innovation database. Chapter 4 estimates the effect of the innovation produced on the export behaviour of French dairy firms. We show that the introduction of a new product has a positive impact not only on the prices offered by the company but also on their demand. Chapter 5 examines the role of product innovation in the learning by exporting process. We show that exports strengthen the innovative capacity of firm, which in turn increases the productivity of firms. Chapter 6 deals with the persistence of product innovation in the French dairy industry. We show that the firms that are most likely to innovate are those that innovated the previous year. Thus, this thesis show, thanks to a new measure of product innovation, that it allows companies to export, increase their productivity and remain innovative.