Abstract.The paper argues that it is detrimental to assume perfect competition and total flexibility of labour markets in order to understand the intensity and stability of growth. Whereas development theories emphasize the impact of imperfect labour markets, this is not so for modern endogenous growth theories. By contrast, therégulationapproaches (in the French meaning) both theoretically and empirically suggest that the transformations in labour institutions might have played a crucial role in the post World War II boom: an unprecedented division of labour associated with long‐run labour relations contracts have enhanced the genuine Fordist growth model. Furthermore, international comparisons among OECD countries suggest that job regulations and active minimum wage policies may have created some short‐run disequilibria but have stimulated dynamic efficiency, via more technological and organizational innovations. Consequently, this area requires more active researches by labour econom