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Colonial Rule, Apartheid and Natural Resources: Top Incomes in South Africa 1903-2005

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  • Facundo Alvaredo
  • Anthony B Atkinson

Abstract

There have been important studies of overall income inequality and of poverty in South Africa. In this paper, we approach the subject from a different direction: the extent and evolution of top incomes. We present estimates of the shares in total income of groups such as the top 1 per cent and the top 0.1 per cent, covering, with gaps, more than a hundred years. In order to explain the observed dynamics, here we consider —in a preliminary way— three factors: the transfer of political authority, racial discrimination, and the rich mineral resources. The estimates of top income shares for recent years bear out the picture of South Africa as a highly unequal country.

Suggested Citation

  • Facundo Alvaredo & Anthony B Atkinson, 2010. "Colonial Rule, Apartheid and Natural Resources: Top Incomes in South Africa 1903-2005," OxCarre Working Papers 046, Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies, University of Oxford.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:046
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    Cited by:

    1. Facundo Alvaredo & Lydia Assouad & Thomas Piketty, 2019. "Measuring lnequality in the Middle East 1990–2016: The World’s Most Unequal Region?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(4), pages 685-711, December.
    2. Pedro H. G. Ferreira de Souza, 2018. "A history of inequality: top incomes in Brazil, 1926–2015," Working Papers 167, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    3. Prados de la Escosura, Leandro, 2013. "Human development in Africa: A long-run perspective," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-204.
    4. Alvaredo, Facundo & Bergeron, Augustin & Cassan, Guilhem, 2017. "Income concentration in British India, 1885–1946," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 459-469.
    5. Facundo Alvaredo & Anthony B Atkinson & Thomas Blanchet & Lucas Chancel & Luis Estevez Bauluz & Matthew Fisher-Post & Ignacio Flores & Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret & Clara Martínez-Tol, 2021. "Distributional National Accounts Guidelines Methods and Concepts Used in the World Inequality Database," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) hal-03307584, HAL.
    6. Janina Hundenborn & Ingrid Woolard & Jon Jellema, 2019. "The effect of top incomes on inequality in South Africa," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(5), pages 1018-1047, October.
    7. Atkinson, Tony & Alvaredo, Facundo, 2016. "Top Incomes in South Africa Over a Century," INET Oxford Working Papers 2016-06, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    8. Alvaredo, Facundo & Cogneau, Denis & Piketty, Thomas, 2021. "Income inequality under colonial rule. Evidence from French Algeria, Cameroon, Tunisia, and Vietnam and comparisons with British colonies 1920–1960," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    9. Yajna Govind, 2020. "Post-colonial Trends of Income Inequality: Evidence from the Overseas Departments of France," World Inequality Lab Working Papers halshs-03022303, HAL.
    10. Lindert, Peter H. & Nafziger, Steven, 2014. "Russian Inequality on the Eve of Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(3), pages 767-798, September.
    11. Facundo Alvaredo & Guillermo Cruces & Leonardo Gasparini, 2018. "A short episodic history of income distribution in Argentina," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 27(1), pages 1-45, December.
    12. Leandro Prados de la Escosura, 2012. "Output Per Head In Pre-Independence Africa: Quantitative Conjectures," Economic History of Developing Regions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(2), pages 1-36, December.
    13. Lydia Assouad & Lucas Chancel & Marc Morgan, 2018. "Extreme Inequality: Evidence from Brazil, India, the Middle East, and South Africa," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 108, pages 119-123, May.
    14. Amory Gethin, 2020. "Extreme Inequality and the Structure of Political Cleavages in South Africa, 1994-2019," World Inequality Lab Working Papers halshs-03022282, HAL.
    15. Leandro Prados de la Escosura, 2015. "World Human Development: 1870–2007," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 61(2), pages 220-247, June.
    16. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, 2015. "The Rise and Decline of General Laws of Capitalism," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(1), pages 3-28, Winter.
    17. Aroop Chatterjee, 2019. "Measuring wealth inequality in South Africa: An agenda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-45, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Prados de la Escosura, Leandro, 2019. "Human Development in the Age of Globalisation," IFCS - Working Papers in Economic History.WH 28450, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola.
    19. Lucas Chancel & Denis Cogneau & Amory Gethin & Alix Myczkowski, 2019. "How large are African inequalities? Towards Distributional National Accounts in Africa, 1990 - 2017," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02876986, HAL.
    20. Stefania Galli & Dimitrios Theodoridis & Klas Rönnbäck, 2023. "Economic inequality in Latin America and Africa, 1650 to 1950: Can a comparison of historical trajectories help to understand underdevelopment?," Economic History of Developing Regions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1), pages 41-64, January.
    21. Lucas Chancel & Denis Cogneau & Amory Gethin & Alix Myczkowski, 2019. "How large are African inequalities? Towards Distributional National Accounts in Africa, 1990 - 2017," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02876986, HAL.
    22. Ihsaan Bassier & Ingrid Woolard, 2021. "Exclusive Growth? Rapidly Increasing Top Incomes Amid Low National Growth in South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 89(2), pages 246-273, June.
    23. Piketty, Thomas & Alvaredo, Facundo & Assouad, Lydia, 2017. "Measuring inequality in the Middle East 1990-2016: The World’s Most Unequal Region?," CEPR Discussion Papers 12405, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    24. Facundo Alvaredo & Leonardo Gasparini, 2013. "Recent Trends in Inequality and Poverty in Developing Countries," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0151, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    25. Santoro, Fabrizio, 2021. "To file or not to file? Another dimension of tax compliance - the Eswatini Taxpayers’ survey," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 95(C).

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