The Development of the French Economy, 1750-1914

This study examines the way economic historians have approached two sets of problems.

First, whether the French economy in 18th and 19th centuries should be considered "retarded", or an early European development success.

Second, how far the explanation for the performance of the French economy should be sought in underlying material conditions, such as the factor endowment, and how far it should be sought in the social and institutional spheres.

Ever since the 1940s and 1950s a battle of interpretation on the character of French economic development has formed the debate between the so-called "coal men" and "culture men".