In 2000, French workers produced slightly more value per hour than their American counterparts; by 2023, they lagged by 10%. This paper asks how structural reforms implemented in France since the 1960s have influenced this reversal. We review sixty years of labour market, product market, human capital, and pension reforms to assess their theoretical and empirical effects on productivity and GDP. Drawing on official policy evaluations and academic research, we analyse emblematic reforms such as the 35-hour workweek, social contribution cuts, the Crédit d’Impôt Recherche (research tax credit), the PACTE law, and successive pension adjustments. The result is a comprehensive, long -run audit of the instruments deployed to support productivity in France, and a discussion of why their cumulative effects have fallen short of preserving the country’s position on the global productivity frontier.
Authors Antonin Bergeaud, Gilbert Cette and Hélène Figaro