French capitalism and the developmental state in the political economy of Michel Chevalier

Teddy Paikin

The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 2026, vol. 33, issue 1, 73-104

Abstract: This paper advances a novel reading of the Saint-Simonian political economy of Michel Chevalier through the lens of the “developmental state”. It argues that Chevalier’s commitment to economic organisation and state intervention stemmed from his acute consciousness of French comparative economic backwardness and the need to construct an activist state capable of jumpstarting development through investment in transportation infrastructure and tariff reform. Inspired by American state intervention in railways, Chevalier outlined a political economy which ideologically accompanied the state-led process of economic development during the Second Empire. The paper also reflects on Chevalier’s relationship with the neomercantilist tradition.

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:eujhet:v:33:y:2026:i:1:p:73-104

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DOI: 10.1080/09672567.2025.2491317

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