Title: The Distribution of Top Incomes in British India An Exploration of Income Tax Records 1885-1922
Abstract: We present series of the shares of income accruing to the top group of the distribution and analyse the shape of the upper part of the income distribution in British India between 1885 and 1922 using a new data set based on income tax tabulations. We obtain four main empirical results. First, income in British India was highly concentrated. The top 0.1 % of the income distribution accounted for over 8 % of total income in the 1880s. This is the highest level of income concentration experienced in India between 1885 and 2000. Second, only a minority of high income individuals were civil servants. High-income individuals in British India mainly earned their income from commerce, trade, properties and learned professions. Third, income concentration declined throughout the period, driven by the decline in income from commerce, trade, properties and learned profession and, to a lesser extent, by the decrease in employment income. Fourth, regional income concentration within British India also mattered. The evolution of top income shares can be decomposed into the decrease of income concentration in Bengal and Agra and Oudh and the increase in income concentration in Bombay, Madras, Punjab and Central Provinces.
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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