Chapter 5 - International Migration and the Economics of Language

Abstract

Abstract This chapter reports on the “economics of language” for immigrants—that is, the influence of language on the choice of destination among international migrants, the determinants among immigrants of destination language proficiency, and the labor market consequences of that proficiency, as expressed in their earnings. Immigrants tend to take language differences across countries into account when deciding whether to migrate and in the choice of the destination. The propensity to migrate to a particular destination, other variables being the same, is greater the smaller the “linguistic distance” between the migrant's language skills and the dominant language in the destination. The determinants of destination language proficiency are shown to be consistent with a model based on the Exposure to the destination language in the origin and the destination, Efficiency in acquiring destination language proficiency, including education, age at migration and linguistic distance, among other variables, and Economic incentives, including the effects of higher earnings and a longer expected duration of residence. This model is shown to be robust for the several immigrant receiving countries studied. Earnings among immigrants are shown to be greater among those more proficient in the destination language, other variables being the same. The earnings payoff tends to be high, yet this underestimates the total returns as it does not include the social, cultural, and political benefits of destination proficiency or the complementarity of destination language skills and investments in other forms of human capital. The chapter closes with a discussion of some policy issues.