A new assessment for the development level of the French overseas economies by implementing the « hybrid » human development index[Une nouvelle mesure du développement des économies ultramarines françaises à travers l’application de l’indicateur de développement humain « hybride »]

There is a large consensus in the literature that French overseas economies show good performances in terms of development during the last decades. However, this finding relies on empirical studies suffering from a number of methodological drawbacks. Then, we decide to check if this conclusion still holds when a more robust approach is retained. Thus, we propose a new assessment of the French overseas territories' development level over the period 1995-2010 by implementing the « hybrid » Human Development Index introduced by the UNDP in 2010. Finally, our indicator strongly supports the earlier conclusion: these economies display high development levels (except for Mayotte), notably compared to the other small island economies. Nevertheless, their performances still remain far behind the national average.