The growth of production per hour worked, or productivity, is slowing faster in France than in Germany and the United States: this stall costs 140 billion euros per year, according to a study published Thursday, September 29 by the Council of economic analysis (CAE).
The main reason for this is a lack of mathematical and socio-behavioral skills, ie the ability to work in a team, to organize and adapt.
This dropout
"is a major economic problem"
about which little is said, while
"skills and the orientation of talents towards sectors that contribute to productivity are a central lever"
to make up for this delay, explained during a presentation. to the press the economist Xavier Jaravel,
Compared to Germany, the productivity gap has resulted in a gap of four points of GDP in 15 years, while the United States, which started from a lower level than France, has gained six points compared to France over the same period, details the note from the CAE, an organization attached to Matignon responsible for informing the government on its economic policy.
In the 2000s, Germany had given itself the means to make up for its own delay following the “PISA shock” which had seen it take down the first European economic power in the international rankings of school skills.
Making a similar effort in France would lead to an
"increase in annual per capita growth of around 0.2 points"
, which would make it possible to gain three points of GDP, or 75 billion euros per year after 15 years, the authors of the note calculated.
Centering the effort around mathematics and socio-behavioral know-how, called "soft skills" in English, is necessary insofar as the jobs requiring these skills are more and more numerous, while the proportion of those who do not claim not drop.
According to researchers who cite several works on the subject, we have witnessed
“a continuous deterioration in the average level of young French people in mathematics for 30 years, both among the best students and among the worst”
.
To remedy this, they advocate setting
“ambitious goals”
in math, the German and also Portuguese examples showing
“that it is possible to make significant progress in just a five-year period”
.
In France, training and the general culture at school do not allow the development of these skills”
Maria Guadalupe, co-author of the note
They also recommend the establishment of a
“system for the regular evaluation of socio-behavioural skills”
, which does not exist today.
“In France, training and general culture at school do not allow the development of these skills
,” according to Maria Guadalupe, co-author of the note.
The second lever to make up for the French delay is to offer better access to careers in innovation, which are today largely the prerogative of men from privileged backgrounds from a limited number of territories.
Opening up these careers more to women, to young people from less privileged backgrounds and from more numerous territories would have
"the potential to increase economic growth by around 0.2 points"
, i.e. there too increase the GDP by 75 billion after 15 years.
To achieve this, the researchers propose the creation of a
“national strategy for innovation by all”
to make young people aware of careers in innovation and science, with a budget of 100 million euros.
Finally, the note wants to redirect the research tax credit (CIR), which today benefits
“disproportionately to large companies”
, whereas it is SMEs that are
“the most innovative”
.
At a constant budget, the subsidy rate would increase from 30% to 42% and the device would be capped at 20 million, advocate economists.