Description
Book SynopsisThis book is the first in English to comprehensively examine the French economy and how it is adjusting to the exigencies of an increasingly globalized environment.
The opening of the French market to international competition has forced recent governments to realize that the old closed model in which France had considerable autonomy over policy is no longer valid. French solutions to domestic problems had to be given up in the early 1980s. Changes in technology have had dramatic impacts on the comparative advantage of French producers and the necessary restructuring has been far from easy. These twin aspects of globalization have also altered the situation of France's various regions and urban economies and the highly centralized structure has come under pressure. This has forced a change in the thinking of French public and private sector leaders. The role of the state, the degree of intervention, the extent of control over the domestic economy, and the need to be accommodative to market forces have all been subject to public debate and to fundamental reconsideration. While this is a book on the French economy, Kresl and Gallais deal with issues, challenges, and processes of change and adaptation that are facing all of Europe, and indeed all industrialized economies.
Economists, political scientists, business scholars and anyone interested in globalization will find this comprehensive study engaging and topical.
Trade Review'There is much of interest here, and the authors provide background information and digressions that make their analysis more accessible to noneconomists.' -- M. Veseth, Choice
Table of ContentsContents: Preface 1. France Encounters Globalization 2. The French Economy since the Second World War 3. The Role of the State in the French Economy 4. France’s External Economic Relations 5. Employment, and Incomes 6. Economic Structure, Restructuring and Development of Output 7. Decentralization: Regions and Cities 8. Prospects for the French Economy References Index
