Abstract
Measuring pre-1914 French industrial output is still the subject of much controversy. The present reconstruction exercise, rather than focusing on sectoral growth rates, investigates the composition of the wage bill of the secondary sector as well as the level of return on its fixed capital. The study is based on information provided by the employment census of 1906 and the Enquiry on French production of 1910-12. Examining various assumptions in turn, the evidence at hand comforts the vision of a marked slowdown in industrial development at the end of the 19th Century, followed by an only timid spurt during the "Belle Epoque"; it calls for a fresh look at the reasons underlying this "retardation".
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