Report

Productivity and competitiveness: post-Covid cyclical and structural analyses - Third report of National Productivity Council

This report presents both the cyclical and structural shifts triggered by the Covid crisis and the policy response to it, and draws comparisons between France and other countries. Compared to other countries, France managed the Covid crisis rather well in 2020-2021. The evolution of employment, GDP, mortality as well as the balance sheet of companies during the crisis and its aftermath is similar in France compared to other countries. Compared to Germany, the government’s budget deficit and public debt increased slightly more, but much less than in the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States.

Published on : 16/05/2022

Temps de lecture

2 minutes

The crisis resulted in a short-run loss of productivity, reflecting the fall in GDP while employment was safeguarded. In the medium run, with considerable uncertainty, the crisis may positively affect productivity through the increase in teleworking, better dissemination of new technologies and accelerated reallocations.

To accelerate productivity gains, the role of skills, training and soft skills is France’s major structural challenge, given its underperformance in this area. Focusing on skill acquisition could help narrow the gap between the most and least productive companies. Continuing to improve France’s attractiveness for investment will be crucial to reindustrialize the country, regain competitiveness, accelerate productivity gains, improve employment and living standards, and enable better management of the ecological transition. Specifically, further changes to the tax system to reduce its weight on production factors (capital and labour) and align it with those of other advanced countries should be considered.

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