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Post-colonial trends of income inequality: Evidence from the overseas departments of France

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  • Govind, Yajna

Abstract

The link between former colonies and their colonizers has implications for inequality in the post-colonial period. In this paper, I provide evidence from a unique setting in which former colonies were administratively assimilated into the colonial metropolis. Putting together a novel income tax dataset for the four oldest French colonies, now overseas departments of France, I estimate the evolution of income inequality from decolonization in 1946 to the present. I find that the top income shares declined rapidly since decolonization but remained consistently higher than in mainland France. Exploiting contemporary administrative data, I document that mainland-born individuals are over-represented at the top of the labor income distribution and in the high-paying public sector in the overseas departments. Thus, while departmentalization reduced overall inequality, it perpetuated a legacy of colonial income hierarchies into the post-colonial era.

Suggested Citation

  • Govind, Yajna, 2025. "Post-colonial trends of income inequality: Evidence from the overseas departments of France," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:194:y:2025:i:c:s0305750x25001548
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107069
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Post-colonial; Inequality; Ethnic; Historical series;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • F54 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - Colonialism; Imperialism; Postcolonialism
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General

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