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Inequality in colonial India

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  • Roy, Tirthankar

Abstract

A view popular in Indian economic history scholarship claims that the institutional and commercial policy of British India made the rich Indians richer and the poor poorer during colonial rule. The paper shows that the evidence to support the conjecture is weak. Missing data on peasant income makes it hard to generalize on aggregate trends in inequality. But the evidence does question the role of state policy behind trends in inequality. An alternative account starts from the distinction between land-dependent and trade-dependent occupations. The open economy of the nineteenth century affected these two spheres differently. Low and stagnant land-productivity limited the average return that accrued to land-dependent occupations. Occupations directly or indirectly dependent on trading could escape the constraint partially.

Suggested Citation

  • Roy, Tirthankar, 2018. "Inequality in colonial India," Economic History Working Papers 90409, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:wpaper:90409
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/90409/
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shilpi Kapur & Sukkoo Kim, 2006. "British Colonial Institutions and Economic Development in India," NBER Working Papers 12613, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    colonialism; inequality; British Empire; South Asia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N15 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Asia including Middle East
    • N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy

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