Aux origines de la préoccupation marchande à la SNCF (1960-2011)

• Main Author: Jean Finez
• Format: Article
• Language: fra
• Published: La Nouvelle Revue du Travail 2013-03-01
• Series: La Nouvelle Revue du Travail
• Subjects: public sector; Sncf French National Railways; deregulation; isomorphism; market; railway
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/nrt/909

The paper studies the convergence between France’s traditionally State-controlled railway sector and the model of a commercial enterprise. It starts with the distinction between public and private sectors, emphasizing that the intensification of market regulation in the railway sector started as far back as the 1960s, albeit to varying degrees in different market segments. The discussion then covers the specific case of a Sncf branch that adopted a market-oriented approach at an early stage, before analyzing changes in the industry based on the theory of institutional isomorphism. The reorganization of the French railways is as much the product of constraints coming from institutions hoping to join state-owned enterprises in the market economy, as a reflection of the Sncf’s own mimetic behavior when it reproduces private industry practices considered effective. Note as well an internal balance of power that helps companies’ “new executives”, i.e. ones in favour of state-owned enterprises adopting a more commercial logic.