ABSTRACT
Producer services in France are concentrated in and around the capital. Over the years, this geographical concentration has been reinforced as it developed: certain service jobs with a low level of qualification have moved towards the provinces whereas highly qualified jobs continue to be concentrated in the Ile de France region. This fact, which is now well known, has been corroborated in other European countries by numerous empirical studies (Illeris 1989). Business services have taken over from industry in the creation of regional and urban inequalities: in all the European countries the head offices of large companies and central administrations have a draining effect and reinforce the hold that the capital city has on services.
