François Perroux on plans coordination and planning

Abstract

Soon after WWII, France adopted a form of economic planning which became afterwards known as “indicative planning”. François Perroux paid great attention to French planning and linked his reflections on planning to both his criticism of neoclassical approach and his proposal of some new theoretical tools for economic analysis. Perroux’s critiques of neoclassical economics involved both the kind of assumptions adopted and the neglect of some aspects that for him were crucial to economic analysis: the differences and inequalities among agents, the presence of economic and social groups, the role of power, and state activity. To contrast and overcome those shortcomings, Perroux elaborated some conceptual tools that are the pillars of his economic analysis. Main aim of this paper is to inquire into Perroux’s contribution to the debate on economic planning that rose in the light of the French experience. The focus is especially on the Fourth Plan which Perroux took particularly into consideration and critically evaluated.