Contenu du sommaire

French computer service and software engineering companies, background and outlook, by Jacques Horaist. The importance of the French computer service and software engineering companies lies not in their percentage of the national turnover, which is modest, but rather in their dynamic outlook and in the impact of their activities. In this respect they are a fine example of the "developed tertiary sector" in which much hope is stored, particularly with regard to generating employment. The technological progress which has been maintained over the last thirty years has meant that costs of equipments have been kept down, with the result that companies can afford to install more and more hardware and consequently increase their need for services. To date, as is demontrasted in the first part of the article, the French computer service companies owe their development mainly to software engineering and userdesigned software based on their creativity, the fruits of their research, the quality of their staff and sound financial management. The fact that they have come to occupy the number two place on the world market is proof of their ability and of the soundness of their approach In recent years, the increasing demand for mass produced hardware and software has led to the industrialization of software production. The new software products are faring very well in France under the driving force of Amercan companies-mainly the hardware producers themselves. The text goes on to point ou that, rather than jumping headlong into this type of production, which involves new business methods, the French computer service companies prefer to consolidate their position. The outlook for demand, taking into consideration foreseeable technological advances, seems to point to a strong trend towards customdesigned applications, with a high intellectual content, particularly in the realm of the data processing networks. But such development will be irregular because of force of habit and the desire among certain users to get the most out of their past investments. If they are to make the most of the situation and maintain their lead, the French computer service and software engineering companies will have, in conjunction with their public or private partners, to find a way round the problems of setting up a market on the European scale, financing their research and training their staff.

The reduction of corporate tax and social security contributions, by Bernard Ullmo. Beyond the sharp controversies in terms of economic doctrine relative to the reduction of corporate taxes and social security contributions, this paper will seek to test the issue by resting its argumentation on the findings of macroeconometric models and of theoretical and empirical surveys. We intended to test two current assumptions: that, according to the fixed-prices temporary equilibrium theory, firms which operate under a "classical régime" tend to invest all of the transfer payments made to them, whereas firms under a Keynesian regime tend to employ such transfer payments in other ways; that a large proportion of French firms find themselves currently operating under a "classical régime", owing to the low profit-rate that limits their growth. Yet, none of the experimental methods used in this research, have clearly demonstrated the existence of such a large proportion of firms following the pattern set by the classical regime. Furthermore, the overall efficiency of a policy of reduction of corporate taxes and social security contributions is not to be found in the circuits by which public transfer payments are turned into productive investments. But other efficient though indirect mechanisms should not be excluded, the policy appears to produce its most favourable results whenever the sharpest drops in domestic prices are obtained, and the repercussion on export prices and on the volume of imports and exports maximized. The model Metric, unlike Dms and Copain. substantiates the favourable pattern of behaviour. In summary, there is some uncertainty as to the regimes, and by way of consequence, the investment behaviours, the wage-price cycles and the sub-model related to foreign-trade. Therefore, there could be no decisive evidence in support of the desirability of a reduction of corporate taxes and social security contributions.