The ‘Bilingual Advantage’ in the Workplace: Theoretical Frameworks and Evidence from the US Labor Market

Abstract

Multilingual hires are a burgeoning feature of the workplace, but there is little evidence on the returns to language skills. This study puts forth a theoretical framework that comprehensively relates language and non-language skills to labor market outcomes drawing upon a variety of fields: linguistics, economic theory, and sociology. We derive testable hypotheses and evaluate them using US Census data. Non-language skills are instrumented with the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) task descriptors and condensed down to cognitive, manual, and interpersonal components using sparse principal component analysis. Findings validate extant evidence that the US economy does not bestow a premium upon bilingual speakers while not upholding a cognitive advantage of bilinguals that transfers to compensations. Furthermore, late learners have a wage advantage over monolinguals captured by unobservable characteristics rather than non-language skills.