French Economy Research Articles

Международная конкурентоспособность отрасли биотехнологий во Франции в контексте стратегии научно-технического развития страны

The article reveals the specifics of the legislative framework of France, which considers the development of innovations in the country. In addition to certain laws that directly or indirectly regulate the activities of companies in the field of innovation, the authors note the importance of the provisions of the French Scientific and Technological Development Strategy. In the named Strategy the main focus is made on supporting innovation through effective tools to stimulate the innovative development of the national economy. The object of research in the article is the biotechnology sector that is one of the most competitive sectors of the French economy and according to the UNCTAD classification, contains "advanced" and in some cases "breakthrough" technologies. The development of this industry in the Fifth Republic is organized in clusters, contributes to the reindustrialization of the country's territories, increases employment and reduces carbon dioxide emissions. The authors of the article conducted a comparative analysis of participants and funded projects of biotechnological clusters in France in 2024, using the annual cluster reports. Thus, the authors revealed that cluster financing in France occurs at the federal, regional and local levels. Besides the state as the main investor of innovative projects, France apply such an instrument like a system of public-private partnerships, as well as attracting private capital in the form of venture investments. The authors note that, despite its high international competitiveness, the biotechnology industry in France faces certain challenges: difficulties in increasing the level of commercialization of products related to the timing of clinical trials; fact of luring companies with promising projects to other countries; complexity in financing start-ups; dependence on raw materials in biobanks located outside Europe; weak presence in global value chains. The authors propose specific measures to maintain and increase the level of international competitiveness in the field of healthcare biotechnology for the EU in general and France in particular.

Towards a history of behavioural and experimental economics in France

Existing histories of behavioral and experimental economics (BE-XP) are primarily focused on its developments in the United States. While French economist Maurice Allais made significant contributions in the 1950s, the subsequent trajectory of BE-XP in France is understudied. This article addresses this gap by comparing the history of BE-XP in France to international trends previously identified in the literature. We find that, after an initial ambivalent influence from Allais, French BE-XP subsequently aligned with international trends. We nevertheless identify some distinctive national features in utility measurement and social preference modeling that are heterogeneously distributed across the French territory.

Afterlives of Saint-Simonianism: Michel Chevalier and nineteenth-century French liberalism

ABSTRACT This article examines the evolution of nineteenth-century French economist Michel Chevalier’s reputation and self-understanding as a Saint-Simonian. Despite only having served two years as chief editor of the famous Saint-Simonian Globe, Chevalier’s attempt to re-integrate himself into liberal intellectual circles following his split from the Saint-Simonian movement was consistently hindered by his perceived adherence to its illiberal principles. This article mobilizes Chevalier’s reputation as a means to explore the porous boundary between Saint-Simonianism and French liberalism at a time when the contours between the two traditions were still not clearly defined. I also argue that the economist’s continued prioritization of economic development over political liberty grounded a variety of liberalism that many political liberals found intolerable, notably in its willingness to endure Bonapartist authoritarianism for the sake of economic growth. Mobilizing new archival material from the Second Empire, this article illuminates how Chevalier and others understood his relation to Saint-Simonianism and liberalism in the moment when he was at the apogee of his power and influence.

French economy and clean energy transition: A macroeconomic multi-objective extended input-output analysis

The complexity of a sustainable economy is rooted in its socio-economic and environmental intricacies, particularly in formulating pathways for the harmonious integration of these parameters. This study introduces an extended input-output analysis and a multi-objective optimisation framework designed to discern trajectories for reducing CO2 emissions while simultaneously maximising GDP and employment. The economic alterations are evaluated through metrics facilitating the examination of both direct and indirect consequences stemming from perturbations within the economy. The focus of this research centres on the French economy, concentrating on pivotal sectors where reducing demand could yield the greatest reduction in CO2 emissions with minimal socio-economic ramifications. Additionally, a model is outlined for energy substitution, wherein fossil fuels in the French electricity mix are supplanted with clean energies. The ensuing effects of such a model on emission reduction pathways are scrutinised, followed by a comparison with the baseline case study.

Empirical Investigation of a Sufficient Statistic for Monetary Shocks

Abstract In a broad class of sticky-price models the non-neutrality of nominal shocks is captured by a simple sufficient statistic: the ratio of the kurtosis of the price change distribution over the frequency of price changes. We test the sufficient statistic proposition using data for a large sample of products representative of the French economy. We first extend the theory to allow for empirically relevant monetary shocks with a transitory predictable component. We then use the micro data to measure kurtosis and frequency for about 120 PPI industries and 220 CPI categories. We use a Factor Augmented VAR to measure the industries response to monetary shocks, under alternative identification schemes. The estimated degree of non-neutrality correlates with the kurtosis and the frequency consistently with the predictions of the theory. Several robustness checks are discussed.

Inflation and how to deal with it in France. A policy perspective from an empirical stock‐flow model

AbstractUsing an empirical stock‐flow consistent model, we simulate an imported inflationary shock to analyze the macroeconomic impacts on the French economy. Facing the risk of a profit‐price‐wage spiral; alternative economic policy responses are evaluated. Traditional restrictive monetary policy does not seem well‐suited to fight imported inflation as the cost is significant with limited and delayed results. Increased social transfers can help workers support their loss of purchasing power. Reduced Value Added Tax can directly limit the inflation drift, but its concrete implementation may raise difficulties. These measures have a cost for public finances but are affordable if the inflation shock is temporary.

Standard Post-Keynesian investment functions and their demand regime: a comprehensive empirical estimation for France

The aim of this article is twofold. In a first step, we estimate a large variety of standard Post-Keynesian investment functions for France over the period 1979–2020 by rigorously following the original features of a theoretical macro-model of growth and distribution. In a second step, for each of these investment functions, we also assess the corresponding demand regime contributing to the current profit-led/wage-led debate. Our results show that the French economy seems to be wage-led. Besides, the intensity of the regime varies greatly with the specific form of the investment function under consideration.

Toward a sustainable environment within the framework of carbon neutrality scenarios: Evidence from the novel Fourier‐NARDL approach

AbstractSustainable energy policies are directly proportional to countries' achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Economies that want to achieve their 2030 and 2050 targets are looking for alternative energy sources until renewable energy sources mature. In this context, this study models the environmental quality of France, which is the leader in the use of nuclear energy in Europe, from a different perspective through nuclear energy technologies. This study empirically uses the novel Fourier asymmetric autoregressive distributed lag approach. It confirms that increases and decreases in nuclear technology have different effects on the load capacity factor within the framework of the load capacity curve (LCC) hypothesis. It also provides evidence for the existence of the LCC hypothesis and offers sustainable energy policies for France. The French government should allocate funds to cleaner energies instead of investing in nuclear energy technologies. Thus, the long‐term transition to a low‐carbon economy can be accelerated instead of short‐term targets. By eliminating nuclear energy, a severe burden on the French economy, infrastructure can be created for alternative energy sources. Finally, the French government can gain momentum in achieving SDGs 7 and 13 by withdrawing support from nuclear energy technologies.

Energy Consumption and Trade Liberalization: Investigating Performance of Economic Growth for French Economy

This study is organized to determine the performance of economic growth in the French economy. For this purpose, this study considers the role of energy consumption, trade openness and consumer prices as determining factors. The ARDL bounds test will be used for the sample from 1986 to 2022 to obtain empirical results. The results confirm that economic growth and its determinants are cointegrated in the long run. Moreover, the results also reveal that only energy consumption and trade openness significantly boost economic growth. It is further witnessed that capital accumulation is expanding economic growth in France. Among these three factors, trade openness's impact is stronger than the other factors taken in this research.

Assessment of the Effectiveness of Legal Solutions Introduced in France in Response to the Financial Crisis. Selected Legal Issues

This contribution deals with the selected legal provisions that were introduced by French government as a response to the financial crisis from 2008. The main aim of the contribution is to confirm or disprove the hypothesis that some of the measures like loi Florange (double vote right) have a certain effectiveness while others like high revenues income tax have no positive impact on economy. The author in about 10 years perspective is going to analyse the impact of chosen legal solutions on the French economy and evaluate the effectiveness of the solutions related to the increase of the tax charges and solutions related to protection of long term shareholders of companies listed on the stock exchange. The scientific methods that are used in the article are related to the functional approach of the comparative legal method, the historical-descriptive method and dogmatic method. The methodology in the article is chosen in order to show that French legal solutions may constitute an interesting reference to other EU countries as an example of the possible response to the future financial crisises.

A Reappraisal of Albert Aftalion’s Theory of Structural Transformation in an Era of Decarbonization

AbstractDecarbonization is a momentous challenge for capitalism and makes one to ask which changes in its morphology may be necessary to achieve that objective. The contribution by the French economist Albert Aftalion (1874–1956), with its emphasis on intermediate levels of aggregation (the “meso“ approach), the differentiated time profiles of economic actoivities, and their differential speeds of reaction to dynamic impulses, provides an invaluable heuristic for conceptualizing the structural transformations required by transition to a low energy regime. Aftalion’s analysis of industrial capitalism emphasizes that structural changes occur along multiple co-existing time horizons. This provides tools to analyze the time constraints on the sequencing of structural changes for different sectors on a decarbonization trajectory without neglecting the strict time requirements for implementing effective climate change mitigation. This interplay of time horizons is central to decarbonization, and it will require a new balance between the invisible hand of markets and the visible hand of states and other public bodies. Moreover, Aftalion’s emphasis on material constraints offers a novel approach to conceptualizing the importance of intermediate levels of aggregation in economic theory, thereby offering a new basis for sectoral policymaking and a fundamental challenge to institutionalist accounts of the morphology of capitalism.

Zombification of the economy? Assessing the effectiveness of French government support during COVID-19 lockdown

This paper evaluates the risk of zombification of the French economy during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, as a result of the unconditional financial support provided to firms by public authorities, to limit the impact of lockdown measures. We develop a simple theoretical framework based on a partial-equilibrium model to simulate the liquidity and solvency stress faced by a large panel of French firms and assess the impact of government support. Simulation results suggest that those policies helped healthy but illiquid firms to withstand the shock caused by the pandemic. Moreover, the analysis finds no evidence of a “zombification effect”, as less productive companies did not disproportionately benefit from government support.

A tale of dualization: accounting for the partial marketization of regulated savings in France

As in other countries, regulated savings in France are intricately woven into dense regulatory frameworks driven by explicit governmental objectives. The anticipated marketization of the French economy should have eradicated them; however, a substantial portion of regulated savings has managed to evade this process. Is this phenomenon attributable to the tenacious grip of the French state-led tradition? Not entirely, as another subset of these savings has indeed undergone marketization. The landscape of French regulated savings is notably distinguished by a growing dichotomy: on one side, non-marketized products offered by banks, and on the other, increasingly marketized products provided by insurers. Drawing upon process tracing, we contend that these ostensibly conflicting developments emanate from the distinct and precise institutional dependencies between state and private actors in which these products are enmeshed. The prevailing status quo within the banking sector is owed to banks’ engagement in a mutually advantageous, long-term exchange of favors with state actors. Faced with the trade-off between offering less lucrative products and risking the endangerment of this relationship, banks have opted for the former. In contrast, an assertive strategy has gained traction in the insurance industry. Yet, strategies for the marketization of regulated savings aligned with state priorities have been implemented, even when insurers expressed opposition.

The Macroeconomic Impact of the New Geopolitical Deal on the French Economy

The Macroeconomic Impact of the New Geopolitical Deal on the French Economy

The role of information in the Rice Exchange: YAMAGATA Bantō’s Great Knowledge (1806)

The nineteenth-century French economist Jules Regnault has been reassessed as a pioneer of financial economics by Jovanovic and others. Although not as elaborate as Regnault’s model for the random nature of stock prices, there was a Japanese philosopher in the same century whose ideas resembled Fama’s hypothesis that all available information is reflected in market prices. His name was YAMAGATA Bantō. This paper clarifies his contribution to the early concept of the Efficient Market Hypothesis by analysing his discussion on information presented in his 1806 Great Knowledge.

Democracy Declined: The Failed Politics of Consumer Financial Protection by Mallory E. SoRelle

Ballooning wealth inequality is perhaps one of the greatest challenges for our current political age. French economist Thomas Piketty warned of inequalities that “radically undermine the meritocratic values on which democratic societies are based.” (Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2014, 1) Although the stock market dominates attention, consumer finance is also an important component of socioeconomic health. Indeed, 77 percent of Americans had some type of outstanding debt by the 2008 financial crisis (11). Mallory E. SoRelle argues in Democracy Declined that although credit has become indispensable for American consumers, few government protections exist from predatory products. While staples like food and household appliances must conform to government-mandated safety standards, many financial products like credit cards, bank accounts, and loans rely on informational disclosures alone. However, disclosures are so lengthy and complicated, SoRelle writes, they are essentially meaningless, leaving consumers at various income levels vulnerable to a debilitating cycle of debt.

Noblesse commerçante contre noblesse militaire: une querelle des Lumières (1756–1759). Édition de Cheminade Christian

This is a welcome critical edition of the Abbé Coyer’s La Noblesse commerçante, the Chevalier d’Arcq’s La Noblesse militaire (both published in 1756), and Coyer’s last word, the Développement et défense du système de la noblesse commerçante (1757). Although the debate between Coyer and Arcq unleashed much commentary, historians have dismissed it as amusing but inconsequential. Most contemporary commentators sided with the traditionalist argument of Arcq, while Coyer’s reputation as a literary provocateur facilitated readings of the debate as a strange anomaly. Christian Cheminade’s contextualizing Introduction demonstrates the broad importance of the debate. He begins by showing the legal vicissitudes of the concept of dérogeance — the loss of noble status through commercial activity — since the thirteenth century. He shows that nobles, in both the medieval and modern periods, regularly sold the goods produced on their estates, and they sought to retain their tax exemptions despite profiting from trade. Only in the sixteenth century did the crown begin to discourage noble participation in commerce by threatening to remove those tax exemptions. It did so not because of bias against merchants or attachment to noble values. Kings instead protected merchants from unfair competition from tax-exempt nobles. Although Coyer later blamed ‘ces temps barbares du gouvernement féodal’ for having nurtured the nobility’s disdain for merchants (p. 11), the nobility’s insistence on cultural separation from the merchant class was in fact a late-seventeenth-century invention. It reflected the reactionary politics of influential figures such as Henri de Boulainvilliers and François de La Mothe-Fénelon, who sought to reassert noble pre-eminence after a time of alarming social mobility under Louis XIV. Meanwhile, because of imperial competition with the British, by the time Coyer had begun to write in 1755 the crown had reversed its policy of discouraging commercial activity among certain classes. Led by the Intendant de Commerce, Jacques Vincent de Gournay, many agents of the crown pushed for the liberalization of the French economy and urged the widest possible engagement in trade. Cheminade shows that Coyer belonged to Gournay’s circle and worked to advance his agenda. There are reasons to assume that Coyer’s strategy of attacking dérogeance served to disguise the real target of the Gournay group: the privileged corps et communautés that granted the right of commercial exchange in French cities only to their members. Coyer’s aggressive valorization of commercial activity, claiming as he did that commerce was honourable and that merchants were as patriotic as any noble, provided a robust rationale for a state policy encouraging all to engage in commerce. Cheminade reasonably connects Coyer’s trial balloon of commercial nobility with the efforts of reformers in the 1760s to create laissez-passer economic policies. Those efforts failed, in part because of the continued allure of the tripartite social order for which Montesquieu had provided an elegant theory, one that Arcq effectively redeployed. The Coyer–Arcq debate, embedded in Montesquieu’s typologies and reflecting the most advanced economic thinking of the age, was more than a blip on the cultural radar. Its relevance to the economic and fiscal troubles that finally prompted revolution reminds us that failed ideas, too, can reveal much about the promise and limitations that frame moments of cultural ferment.

Toward the History of the Origins and Development of French Horticulture Societies (19th – First Half of the 20th Century

This article focuses on the institutionalization of horticulture in France through the formation, self-organization, and development of horticulture societies. The author examines the origins of the French National Society of Horticulture (SNHF), the Horticultural Society of Lyon, and other regional organizations. Their common features include regular exhibitions, the publication of journals, and the development of scientific committees. The article also analyzes the difficulties encountered by the societies as well as their importance not only for plant breeding but also for France in general. The first such association, the Paris Society of Horticulture, was established in France in 1827. It subsequently changed its status and name many times and became the central and national organization. This did not mean, however, that many other associations could not be established in the regions and small cities. Despite numerous political crises in France in the 19th century, the societies continued their fruitful work. This process reached its peak in the early 20th century and only World War I with its devastating impact on French economy, science, and agriculture disrupted the development of plant breeding in the country. Not all of the horticulture associations survived this difficult period; some ceased to exist altogether while many others merged to form the new, much larger organizations. During the interbellum period, the societies’ periodicals were published regularly, they held met regular meetings, the exhibitions were organized, scientific work was carried out, and French horticulture became internationally recognized. Not having fully recovered after World War I, scientific research in France was disrupted by World War II. The consequences can still be seen today: France has not reached the amount and diversity of horticulture societies, journals, and exhibitions, or the number of researchers involved in these studies it had in the early 20th century.

The Deindustrialization of the French Economy: A Note

The Deindustrialization of the French Economy: A Note

Clustering the state of the French economy, a qualified view on financial crises

Clustering the state of the French economy, a qualified view on financial crises