Post-colonial Trends of Income Inequality in The Overseas Departments of France∗ Yajna Govind y Please do not circulate. Abstract The existing socioeconomic disparities in the French overseas departments are widely acknowledged. However, despite the recurrent occurrence of protests and riots in these territories, there has sparsely been an in-depth long-run economic analysis on this assertion. This study estimates the evolution of income inequality in the four old- est French colonies, now overseas departments; La R´eunion,Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyane since their decolonisation in 1946 until recent years. It is the first long-run comparative analysis of inequality at the regional level in France and is among the few that analyses all four overseas departments together. Drawing on a new income tax dataset put together in this paper, the results reveal a somewhat inverted-U shaped curve of inequality over the period. Interestingly, the top 10% income share is consis- tently higher in the overseas departments compared to the metropolis while top 1% stabilises at the same level as the metropolis in the recent period. Finally, it is worth noting that there are differences between the four territories. Moreover, the inequal- ity trends observed hide underlying cleavages. Using administrative data, I show that there is a \metropolitan" income premium in the overseas department. Keywords: Inequality, Top incomes, France, Overseas Departments, Taxation JEL classification: D63, H20, N30 ∗Version: 29/11/2018 yPSE, INED | Contact:
[email protected] 1. Introduction The prevailing socioeconomic disparities in the French overseas departments are widely acknowledged in the local political and public sphere.