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Simple labour and complex labour according to marx Jean-Louis Cayatte. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the impossibility of establishing, from Marx's writings themselves, a satisfactory definition (not to mention a measure) of the degree of complexity of a labour force. Between 1847 and the French version of the Capital, there is no doubt that Marx avoids the issue. His reasons for doing no are open to discussion. Howecer the result of it all is that a systematic comparison of the passages in which he tackles the difficulty leads to two different definition.of simple labour and five different definitions of complex labour. Should one be willing to establish a law of reduction of complex labour to simple labour. Marx',s text should not be followed too closely and the inner logic of labour theory of value seem.s to be the one and only reliable guideline.

Schumeper's theory of the entrepreneur or the problem of economic knowledge Yves Breton This article presents two objects : ― The first purpose is to show as clearly and detailed as possible the principal informations about the « Schumpeterian » theory of the entrepreneur in its historical evolution. ― The second purpose is to inquire about the essential reasons that led Joseph Schumpeter to review continuously his theory. Some reasons can explain the hesitations and doubts of the Austrian Economist : First of all, it's necessary to mention the evolution of the structures of capitalist economies, the apparition of a socialist form of Government in USSR as well as thé évolution of thé international économie situation during thé first fifttj years of the twentieth century that has been hard trial for his theory as a whole. Likewise, it's necessary to mention his methodological distress. Indeed, he was continually preoccupied by the relations that must be established between the economic theory and economic history. This economic history he will finally present as a paramount factor of the economic analysis. The problem befors us is to understand if Joseph Schumpeter putting his entrepreneur's theory to test of History don't raised the central problem of the économc know'ledge.

Inflation and wage-price feed-back Michèle Debonneuil et Henri Sterdyniak This article starts front the idea that no theory of inflation can be based solely on economic agents rational behavior : their inflationary illusions have to be taken into account, as well as market imperfections. The theory of inflation developed here rests mainly upon the wage-price feed-back, so that different descriptions of prices and wages evolutions lead to different interpretation, of inflation : the level of inflation can be structural, — i.e. determined by current markets disequilibria or distributional conflicts — or historical — i.e. determined by the past evolution of them. The consequences of various exchange rate policies upon the inflationary process are also discussed, as well as the impact on supply and demand of several anti-inflationist meaaures.

Regional insertion of groups : a comparaison between french and foreign groups Olivier Gouedard-Comte This paper contains a comparaison of regional insertion of french and foreign groups. In the first part, one analyze their respective degrees of integration assesed by the location of main suppliers for goods (equipment goods, raw-materials and subcontracting), and business services (management, advertising, engeneering,..) ; moreover, one show the characteristics of organisational structures in which their establishments are included and their degrees of fiinctional specialization. Then, one research by using synthetic indicators their degrees of integration and managerial dependance on head-offices located outside the region. In addition, we study relationships between integration and managerial dependance : are the less dependant establishments the most integrated into the region ? After building up an indicator of regional insertion (based on both integration and dependance), one connect the degree of regional insertion of establishments with their degree of internationalisation and their position in different markets (progressive or regressive). To obtain data, we did a survey ourselves : 266 establishments located in the Rhône-Alpes region were interviewed.

Intra-industry trade under perfect monopolistic Competition framework : an empirical investigation Olivier Clair, Olivier Gaussens, Duc-Loi Phan This paper is intended 1) to confirm, by use of finely disaggregated data for 16 industrial countries (5-digit level of the SITC), the existence of international intra-industry trade and to analyzc its characteristics ; and 2) to test some of the hypotheses or findings in theoretical models which apply the analysis of perfcct monopolistic competition to this trade. To this effect we constructed appropriated indices in order to meaaure determining variables such as similarity of factor endowments and of consumption patterns, or cross international direct investments. The empirical results give clear evidence of the role of identical consumption patterns in explaining intra-industry trade and of the cornplementarity between the latter and cross international direct investments, while they are unconclusive on the effect of factor endowments.

State and firm « filieres » Alexis Jacquemin, Michel Rainelli The concept of « filière » refers to the input-output relationships between industriel sectors. One aspect of industrial policy is to improve industrial structure by reinforcing the control of these relationships, establishing or sustaining autonomous capabilities in thé main vertically interdépendant industrial fields. This paper takes a fresh look at this approach by focusing on the fact that the relevant « filière » and the optimal degree of autonomy will be différent according to thé nature of thé économie agent. The authors contrast the objectives and strategies adopted by the State which insists on a high level of national autarchy in key technologies, and the one adopted by industrial groups which insist on their international competitiveness and their position in the oligopoly game.