ABSTRACT
The production and exchange of goods and services, which constitutes the basis of economic life, has evolved since the Second World War through periods of growth and recession which in France have broadly followed the same patterns as in other industrialized economies. However, at a more substantive level, the French production system has evolved with a rhythm of its own. Thus we shall first describe the main stages in this evolution, and then go on to analyse the changes in the labour force and in the structure of firms.
