By Aïmane Abdelsalam, Doctoral student in economics (University of Lille, Clersé) and affiliated with LIEPP Sciences Po, Alexis Guillaume, Economist - Institut Avant-garde, Doctor in economicsconomie de l'université Paris Dauphine - PSL et Anne-Laure Delatte, Directrice de Recherche au CNRS, professeur associé à l'université Paris Dauphine - PSL

In France, tax and socio-tax expenditures now represent the equivalent of over 6% of GDP, compared with 2% at the end of the 1970s. Drawing on an unprecedented database spanning more than forty years, this post based on our article published in the Revue d'économie politique (Abdelsalam, Delatte, Guillaume, 2025) shows how these schemes have become a discreet but major pillar of French economic policy, particularly in the service of businesses. Their rise reflects a reconfiguration of public action: the State continues to redistribute, but now acts increasingly as a guarantor of competitiveness.

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