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The Power of Major Trade Languages in Trade and Foreign Direct Investment

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  • W. Travis Selmier
  • Chang Hoon Oh

Abstract

While the effects of cultural disparity and common institutional foundations on international trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) have been much analyzed, little analysis of languages' transaction costs has been done in either the international relations or international business literatures. This paper integrates literature from international political economy, international business and economics, and linguistics, to examine the transaction costs of languages under three different measures of language closeness, same language , direct communication , and language distance . Language is both a tool in international economic transactions and a vehicle to transmit cultural values, but our results point out that major trade languages are employed differently in international trade and in FDI. Communication costs, for both FDI and international trade, show a hierarchy, with English the most inexpensive among major trade languages. We introduce the concept of language intensity to explain why communication costs are much more important in FDI than in international trade. Major trade languages may obtain considerable power from their economic use; we examine the asymmetric nature of this power. We empirically test these ideas in gravity equation models.

Suggested Citation

  • W. Travis Selmier & Chang Hoon Oh, 2013. "The Power of Major Trade Languages in Trade and Foreign Direct Investment," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 486-514, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rripxx:v:20:y:2013:i:3:p:486-514
    DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2011.648567
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    Cited by:

    1. Omar Martin Fieles‐Ahmad & Matthias Huber, 2022. "Learn German, Buy German? Language‐learning opportunities abroad and exports," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(10), pages 3031-3058, October.
    2. Steven Yamarik & Mariya Mileva, 2023. "Cultural institutes: Networks and determinants," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 1119-1143, April.
    3. Melitz, Jacques & Toubal, Farid, 2014. "Native language, spoken language, translation and trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 351-363.
    4. Helene Tenzer & Siri Terjesen & Anne-Wil Harzing, 2017. "Language in International Business: A Review and Agenda for Future Research," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(6), pages 815-854, December.
    5. Konara, Palitha & Wei, Yingqi, 2019. "The complementarity of human capital and language capital in foreign direct investment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 391-404.
    6. Zhang, Yi & Hussain, Taiba, 2021. "SIEs’ interaction and adaptation to their task performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 370-380.
    7. Matthias Lücke & Tobias Stöhr, 2018. "Heterogeneous immigrants, exports and foreign direct investment: The role of language skills," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(6), pages 1529-1548, June.
    8. Tim Marple, 2021. "The social management of complex uncertainty: Central Bank similarity and crisis liquidity swaps at the Federal Reserve," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 377-401, April.
    9. Lücke, Matthias & Stöhr, Tobias, 2015. "Heterogeneous immigrants and foreign direct investment: The role of language skills," Kiel Working Papers 2009, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    10. Donald Lien & Melody Lo & David Bojanic, 2019. "Asymmetric effects of cultural institutes on trade and foreign direct investment," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5), pages 1520-1553, May.
    11. Ly, Amadú & Esperança, José & Davcik, Nebojsa S., 2018. "What drives foreign direct investment: The role of language, geographical distance, information flows and technological similarity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 111-122.
    12. Pelletier, Adeline & Khavul, Susanna & Estrin, Saul, 2019. "Innovations in emerging markets: the case of mobile money," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101150, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Estrin, Saul & Meyer, Klaus E. & Pelletier, Adeline, 2018. "Emerging Economy MNEs: How does home country munificence matter?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 514-528.
    14. Wei Feng & Yanrui Wu & Yue Fu, 2021. "Dialect Diversity and Foreign Direct Investment in China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 29(2), pages 49-72, March.
    15. Lien, Donald & Oh, Chang Hoon, 2014. "Determinants of the Confucius Institute establishment," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 437-441.
    16. Pelletier, Adeline & Khavul, Susanna & Estrin, Saul, 2019. "Innovations in emerging markets: the case of mobile money," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101585, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Omar Martin Fieles-Ahmad & Matthias Huber, 2021. "Learn German, Buy German? Language-learning opportunities abroad and exports," Jena Economics Research Papers 2021-008, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.

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