Influential French economist Thomas Piketty on Thursday said he would not accept the Legion d'honneur - his country's highest award, news agency AFP reported, according to dpa.
Piketty, 43, is the author of the bestseller Capital in the 21st Century, a major work which has seen him shoot to international prominence.
Piketty has distanced himself from the policies of France's Socialist President Francois Hollande, after having at one time been close to the Socialist Party.