Markets and linguistic diversity

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Year: 2010
Volume: 76
Issue: 3
Pages: 774-790

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Abstract Producers of cultural goods and media products can make their specific contents available to their audiences and readerships only through a particular language. The choice of language is a non-trivial decision in markets with bilingual or multilingual consumers. In this paper I argue that, the very existence of bilingual consumers may seriously bias market outcomes against minority languages. In particular, I show that the level of linguistic diversity determined by profit maximizing firms tends to be inefficiently low, except when and where the cost of producing a second linguistic version becomes sufficiently low. Thus, the model provides an efficiency argument supporting policies that protect the presence of minority languages in these markets.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jeborg:v:76:y:2010:i:3:p:774-790
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-25