1. Handbook of language & ethnic identity Chapter 2: Economics by Francois Grin

2. Economic Paradigm Economics has been looking at issues of language & ethnic identity since 1960s Economics is about choices concerning limited resources Economic theory assumes that actors behave rationally, according to efficient resource allocation, to maximize their well- being

3. Historical correlations 1960s: –language & ethnic identity found to be an explanatory factor for variable of labor income (minority groups associated with lower income) 1970s: –Human capital theory recognized languages as assets but ignored ethnicity 1980s-present: –Combination of factors including both ethnic identity (defined by mother tongue) and linguistic human capital (defined by competence in additional languages)

4. Cause and effect Up until late 1980s focus was on what economic effects were caused by linguistic factors Since then there has been investigation of what economic factors might shape linguistic behavior To what extent are minority languages affected by economic variables?

5. Empirical Analysis of the Relationship between Language and Labor Income Earning differences between immigrants and native-born workers or between anglophones and francophones (US & Canada) Gastarbeiter, speakers of minority languages, and competence in English (continental Europe) Explanatory factors: within-firm communication costs and discrimination

6. Spread, Survival and Decline of Languages Why do people learn or use certain languages? Snowball effect: the more people speak language Y, the more interesting it becomes for more people to learn Y –What factors create this effect, reinforce it, or hinder it? What are the relative “prices” of using one language over another for bilinguals? (e.g., prices of children’s books)

7. Language and Economic Activity Do linguistic factors have an influence on the level of economic activity? How has thinking changed on this issue? It was previously thought that keeping a minority language was an economic disadvantage, but now it is seen that linguistic diversity can be an advantage

8. Communication between Language Groups Can rational-choice and game theory be used to model the choice of language that people will use in different situations? What are the most important factors? –Efficiency? –Social norms? What policy should the EU adopt?

9. Language Policy and Planning Linguistic environment: –# of speakers, proficiency level, attitude toward languages –status, domains, frequency of use of languages Language policy seeks to modify the linguistic environment to increase aggregate welfare

10. Policy Analysis and the Rationale for Government Intervention “Increasing aggregate welfare” – what does this entail? –1) Presumes that all issues can be translated into costs & benefits – this makes it hard to justify moral values, human rights, since no one person/group can dictate values –2) Measurement of costs & benefits is a prerogative of power

11. Measurement Problems and the Quest for Optimality It is easy to measure costs (comparison to status quo) Measuring the benefits of linguistics diversity is much more difficult Both costs & benefits involve non-market values Comparison of costs & benefits makes it possible to choose optimal language policy

12. Efficiency & Fairness Why are these two goals in conflict? Efficient use of resources does not necessarily mean that they will get distributed fairly – it is more important for a policy to be just than for it to be efficient It is therefore better to provide minority language schooling even to a small minority rather than to force that minority to unfairly shoulder the entire burden of linguistic adaptation

13. Conclusions Linguistic attributes do have an impact on people’s labor income Modeling can help us understand language use Language policy can be evaluated, just like policy on health, environment, etc. Economic research equates language with ethnicity