Income concentration in British India, 1885-4946

• 成果类型: Article; Proceedings Paper
• 署名作者: Alvaredo, Facundo; Bergeron, Augustin; Cassan, Guilhem
• 署名单位: Paris School of Economics; University of Oxford; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET); Harvard University; University of Namur
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.01.005
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 459-469
• 关键词: inequality; INDIA; colonization; Top incomes

摘要

We use a novel income tax data set to present evidence on the evolution of income concentration in the last 60 years of colonial rule in India. These data allow us to study the evolution of income concentration at the country level as well as the location of top income earners across provinces. We identify three key facts: (1) the evolution of income concentration in British India was nonlinear, following a U-shape, (2) the majority of top income earners were non-Europeans, and (3) the geographical location of top income earners changed over time with the province of Bombay gaining in importance in the early XXth century. We provide an interpretation of these results in the light of the economic and political changes in British India over the period.