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The Official Language Problem

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  • Pool, Jonathan

Abstract

Polities and organizations use and require particular languages for official business. The choice of official languages is a vexing issue. Theorists, convinced that a fair language policy cannot be efficient, have despaired of an elegant solution. To investigate this apparent dilemma, I mathematically model the problem of choosing an efficient and fair language policy for a plurilingual polity. The policy designates official languages and taxes the language groups to pay for translation among the official languages. Contrary to prevailing wisdom, this model implies that a fair language policy can be efficient. But what if language groups rationally misrepresent the costs of using a nonnative official language? Even then, the policy maker can discover a fair language policy and, under some conditions, can use a cost-revelation procedure that discovers a fair and efficient language policy. The results challenge the claim that efficiency and practicality excuse the inferior treatment of language minorities.

Suggested Citation

  • Pool, Jonathan, 1991. "The Official Language Problem," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 85(2), pages 495-514, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:85:y:1991:i:02:p:495-514_17
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    Cited by:

    1. Victor Ginsburgh & Jacques Melitz & Farid Toubal, 2017. "Foreign Language Learning and Trade," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 320-361, May.
    2. Jean Gabszewicz & Victor Ginsburgh & Shlomo Weber, 2011. "Bilingualism and Communicative Benefits," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 101-102, pages 271-286.
    3. Yuki Kazuhiro, 2022. "Is Bilingual Education Desirable in Multilingual countries?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 22(4), pages 889-949, October.
    4. Alcalde-Unzu, Jorge & Moreno-Ternero, Juan D. & Weber, Shlomo, 2022. "The measurement of the value of a language," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    5. Yuki, Kazuhiro, 2021. "Language education and economic outcomes in a bilingual society," MPRA Paper 106119, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Melitz, Jacques, 2014. "English as a global language," CEPR Discussion Papers 10102, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. ALHENDI Osama, 2019. "Language Policy And Economics: Does English Language Accelerate The Wheel Of Development In The Economies Or Not? A Review," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(2), pages 366-379, December.
    8. Michele Gazzola, 2016. "Multilingual communication for whom? Language policy and fairness in the European Union," European Union Politics, , vol. 17(4), pages 546-569, December.
    9. Amy H. Liu & Megan Roosevelt & Sarah Wilson Sokhey, 2017. "Trade and the Recognition of Commercial Lingua Francas: Russian Language Laws in Post-Soviet Countries," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 48-68, March.
    10. Melitz, Jacques, 2012. "A framework for analyzing language and welfare," CEPR Discussion Papers 9091, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Rajesh Ramachandran & Christopher Rauh, 2023. "The Imperium of the Colonial Tongue? Evidence on Language Policy Preferences in Zambia," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 32(1), pages 52-80.
    12. Victor Ginsburgh & Jacques Melitz & Farid Toubal, 2014. "Foreign Language Learning : An Econometric Analysis," Working Papers 2014-21, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    13. Aurélien Portuese, 2012. "Law and economics of the European multilingualism," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 279-325, October.
    14. repec:edn:sirdps:433 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Selmier, W. Travis & Oh, Chang Hoon, 2012. "International business complexity and the internationalization of languages," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 189-200.
    16. Michele Gazzola & Alessia Volpe, 2014. "Linguistic justice in IP policies: evaluating the fairness of the language regime of the European Patent Office," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 47-70, August.
    17. François Grin & Guillaume Fürst, 2022. "Measuring Linguistic Diversity: A Multi-level Metric," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(2), pages 601-621, November.
    18. Ortega, Javier & Tangeraas, Thomas, 2003. "Unilingual versus Bilingual Education System: A Political Economy Analysis," CEPR Discussion Papers 4003, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Aristide R. Zolberg, 2004. "The Democratic Management of Cultural Differences: Building inclusive societies in Western Europe and North America," Human Development Occasional Papers (1992-2007) HDOCPA-2004-17, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    20. Marco Civico, 2022. "Simulating language knowledge across the EU: language regimes, language learning and consequences for linguistic disenfranchisement," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 537-563, May.
    21. Susan W. Parker & Luis Rubalcava & Graciela Teruel, 2002. "Schooling Inequality among the Indigenous: A Problem of Resources or Language Barriers?," Research Department Publications 3134, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    22. Mark Gradstein, 2000. "The Political Economy of Sustainable Federations," CESifo Working Paper Series 315, CESifo.
    23. Michele Gazzola & Bengt-Arne Wickström & Mark Fettes, 2023. "Towards an index of linguistic justice," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 22(3), pages 243-270, August.
    24. Victor Ginsburgh, 2008. "Multilingualism," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/7296, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

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