The economics of language: survey, assessment, and prospects

Abstract

This paper offers a general presentation ofthe economics of language as it has evolved since the publication of the earliest articles in thisfield in the mid-1960s. To this end, it begins by extensively reviewing the main trends and results found in the literature, which is arranged, for the purposes of this paper, in nine categories. Although much of the existing research is empirical and documents the relationship between linguistic attributes and socioeconomic Status (usually in Canada or in the United States), an increasingly wide range of topics is being studied. These include language maintenance and shift, the relationship between linguistic patterns and economic activity, and the selection and design of language policies. The paper then moves on to an assessment of the particular challenges facing researchers in the economics of language. On the one hand, it is important to guard against tempting but misleading analogies, of which some examples are discussed; on the other hand, the economics of language is well equipped to shed light on some causal links between linguistic and economic variables and to select, design, implement, and evaluate language policies. I try to show that language planning raises questions that are analytically similar to many of those encountered in other types of public policy and must therefore be amenable to policy analysis; this requires the development of appropriate concepts and tools, many of which can be supplied by an economic approach. The priorities for further research are examined and shown to fall into two main categories. Thefirst consists of the development of a wide range ofsectoral models addressing specific issues, such as, for example, the cost structure of the production of language-specific goods and Services. The second points to a larger goal, that is, the development of an integrated perspective on language planning and linguistic plurality. The end of the paper is devoted to an outline of the essential features of this enterprise.