This study is a comparison of French and German education and its impact on individual labour market outcomes. I am very grateful to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Franz for finding interest in this topic, allowing me the freedom to write my doctoral dissertation on this subject. I would like to thank him for his helpful assistance throughout this work. I am also indebted to Prof. Dr. Walter Miiller, from the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research, who kindly accepted to be my second supervisor. This work has been made possible through the financial support of the Thyssen Foundation within the framework of the project 'Qualifikation und Arbeitsmarkterfolg in Deutschland und Frankreich - Der Einfluss von bildungs- und familienpolitischen Mafinahmen im Vergleich' which I grate­ fully acknowledge. Moreover, I would not have been able to do this piece of research without Dr. Ali Skalli, from the University Pantheon-Assas in Paris, who accepted me as an associate researcher at his institute and gave me access to the French data.

The French and the German education systems.- Educational attainment in France and Germany.- Education and unemployment in France and Germany.- Education and earnings in France and Germany.- Conclusion.