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Large Firms and Institutional Change
Industrial Renewal and Economic Restructuring in France
Bob Hancké
232 pages
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numerous tables
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234x156mm
978-0-19-925205-3
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Hardback
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25 July 2002
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This item is printed to order. Items which are printed to order are normally despatched and charged within 5-10 days.
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- A new firm-centred perspective on the French political economy
- Analysis of economic readjustment in France 1980-2000
- Contains a critique of the conventional perspectives on the relationship between state, economy, and society
- Case studies include Renault, EDF, Moulinex, and SNCF
Between 1980 and 1985, the French economy and industry faced a dramatic crisis; in the ten years that followed, it witnessed a remarkable revival. How did the French economy make this transition? While the state is still an important economic agent in France, and the market certainly has become more central in the organization of the French economy, both state- and market-centered perspectives fail to understand critical elements of this adjustment. Building on the new Varieties of Capitalism approach in political economy which puts firms at the center of the analysis, this book argues that the post-war, state-led system changed into a system organized by and
around the large firms.
Large firms have always been central in the French post-war economic development model. In the past, however, they adapted to patterns set by the central state. By exploiting the possibilities in government policies in different areas such as finance, labour relations, and regional policies, the large firms were able to induce their main interlocutors - the state, banks, labour unions, workers, and small firms - to adjust in a way which was congruent with their own interests. From subservient economic agents, they became the drivers of economic adjustment.
Through this case study of readjustment in France, this book offers a subtle critique of neo-institutionalist perspectives on firms. Institutional frameworks do not
simply offer scenarios for adjustment, but are themselves constructions of economic and political actors and therefore subject to change and reorganization. By analysing how large firms in France, arguably one of the least likely places to harbour such endogenous capacities, changed their institutional environment to fit their own needs, this book offers an important new perspective on the political economy of industrial and economic change.
Readership: Academics and graduate students in the areas of business, political economy, industrial sociology, and industrial relations.
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Bob Hancké, Lecturer in European Political Economy, European Institute, London School of Economics
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"... the analysis presented is well informed, carefully crafted, and stimulating." - Enterprise & Society
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Introduction
Part I: State, Market, and Firms in the French Political Economy
1: Making Sense of France
2: The Societé Bloquée Revisited: The Failure of Economic Reforms in France
3: Rethinking the French Political Economy: Bringing Firms Back In
Part II: Corporate Change in France: Case Studies
4: Cars are Cars: Industrial Restructuring in Renault
5: Changing the Power Grid: Industrial Reorganization at EDF
6: Grinding Vegetables - to a Halt: Delayed Adjustment in Moulinex
7: The Argument Extended: Industrial Restructuring in France
Part III: Conclusion
8: Large Firms, Institutions, and Industrial Renewal
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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