France’s gradual withdrawal from R&D investment[Le lent désinvestissement de la France dans la R&D]

In today's world, human societies face major challenges and crises, some of which can be deemed existential. Climate disruption, the collapse of biodiversity, shortages of vital resources and raw materials, and even the questioning of democracy are all issues that cannot be overcome without science and progress. In this context, advancing research is more vital than ever for nations, and France cannot shy away from this imperative. However, compared to its former status, France's scientific influence in the world appears to have been declining since the beginning of the century. Why is France falling behind in research compared to other nations? Numerous reforms of higher education, research, and innovation systems have been implemented to address this decline. Although it is difficult to demonstrate to what extent these reforms have had—or failed to have—positive impacts on French research, we assert two points. First, the relentless accumulation of reforms, implemented in increasingly rapid succession without proper assessment or rationalization of the outcomes of previous reforms, coupled with a caricatural inflation of bureaucracy and new structures, is detrimental to French research, whether public or private. Second, the underfunding of French R&D since the 1980s is the primary cause of its loss of momentum. This analysis note specifically aims to shed light on this underinvestment and demonstrate that France invests no more in its R&D today than it did in the 1980s—perhaps even less in the case of public R&D. Meanwhile, as we will see, global R&D spending has more than quadrupled in the past 40 years. Despite the efficiency of its public research, France has inexorably fallen behind countries that have understood the necessity of investing in R&D.