From State to Market?: The Transformation of French Business and Government

by Vivien A. Schmidt

Overview

From State to Market? examines the changing role of the French state in the economy between 1981 and 1995 and its impact on business. Professor Schmidt details the governmental policies of nationalization, privatization, deregulation, and European integration; illuminates the "statist" policymaking processes through which such policies were formulated and implemented; profiles the players, the administrative and managerial elites who share common state educational background and career track; and describes the changes in economic performance, capital structure, and managerial practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521555531
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/26/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	494
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.10(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword; Introduction: Modernizing France; Part I. Restating Public Policy: France in Comparative Perspective: 1. Between states and society; 2. The statist pattern of policymaking; Part II. Modernizing Government: the Policies Toward Business: 3. Building the dirigiste state; 4. From dirigisme to disengagement; 5. Dirigiste disengagement; 6. Everyday disengagement; Part III. Between Ministry and Industry: the Process of Policymaking: 7. In the ministries; 8. Between ministry and industry; Part IV. Elites in Ministries and Industries: the Players in the Policymaking Process: 9. Elites in the ministries and industries; 10. Explaining elite dominance: the idea of the state as state of mind, or esprit d'état comme état d'esprit; Part V. Modernizing Business: The Changes in Economic Profile and Management Practice: 11. Revitalizing the economy; 12. Restructuring French capitalism: the impact of changes in state ownership and control; 13. Reforming managerial practice; Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

"The bibliography is excellent, especially with respect to the French-language political economy literature. Although this book's cataloging data place it on the economics shelf of the library, it is as much or more a study of politics and is truly a work of political economy. It will prove broadly valuable to social scientists in postwar France and Europe." Choice

"...this is an excellent book that presents a great deal of information about the transformation of the French economy in the 1980's and early 1990's and provides a starting point for future research. Anyone interested in French political and economic development and the prospects for European economic integration will profit from reading it." Michael S. Smith, Business History Review

From the Publisher