The purpose of this paper is to examine the processes of wage formation in France sector by sector, to idenitfy the reasons for fluctuations in sectoral wage differentials and ascertain whether wage emulation exists. In France no information is available quarterly on sector wages with breakdowns by sex or according to a number of other characteristics, so it was not possible to make use of a number of studies done in other countries on the degree of wage dispersion, such as those of Bouteiller (1971), Pollen (1977), Tachibanaki (1974), and all the studies on the much researched relationship between wage level and membership of a trade union. Here it would be appropriate to ...