L’encadrement des prix en France pendant les « Trente Glorieuses » : Une gestion corporatiste ? (1947-1968)

This paper contributes to the analysis of corporatism in post-World War II economic policies in France. Focusing on the “Comité National des Prix” (National Price Committee, CNP), in which employee and employer unions debate price-control decisions, we show that, despite appearances, this institution and, hence, price policy, cannot be considered a form of corporatism. Two elements support this thesis. First, decisions to freeze prices, which were particularly frequent in the 1950s, were systematically adopted despite the joint opposition of the two main trade unions: the CGT and the CNPF. Second, the "contractual turn" in pricing policy in the 1960s, inspired by corporatist thinking and reflections on "incomes policy", took place despite a structural opposition between employee and employer unions. The ambition of a "corporatist turn" in planning in the 1960s was thus thwarted by the persistence of major union antagonisms, as much as by the verticality of decision-making on pricing.