English
Focusing on Alfred Sauvy’s INED (1945-1962), this article ties together the history of institutions, the history of the social sciences and the sociology of organisations. It shows how personnel management (hiring, careers and wages) contributed to the preponderance of demography as a science of populations in France. It fulfilled most adequately the strategic priority of INED, which was placed under the authority of the Ministry of Finance: namely, to link research as directly as possible to expertise.