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Economics of Literary Translation: A Simple Theory and Evidence

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  • Ginsburgh, Victor
  • Weyers, Sheila
  • Weber, Shlomo

Abstract

Books are an important factor of cultural transmission, but need, in most cases, to be translated. According to some authors, this may lead to a form of cultural domination, in particular of English, on other languages. All these papers ignore that the population speaking English as a first language is, with the exception of Mandarin, the largest in the world. It is therefore not surprising that English produces more fiction (and much more scientific literature, as scientists from all countries write more and more in English) than any other language. We develop a theoretical model of translation, which is estimated on the basis of UNESCO translation data. We show that translations from English are dominated by translations from other languages, including Scandinavian ones and French.

Suggested Citation

  • Ginsburgh, Victor & Weyers, Sheila & Weber, Shlomo, 2007. "Economics of Literary Translation: A Simple Theory and Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 6432, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6432
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    1. Canoy, Marcel & van Ours, Jan C. & van der Ploeg, Frederick, 2006. "The Economics of Books," Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, in: V.A. Ginsburgh & D. Throsby (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 21, pages 721-761, Elsevier.
    2. Chr. Hjorth-Andersen, 2001. "A Model of Translations," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 25(3), pages 203-217, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Caminal, Ramon, 2010. "Markets and linguistic diversity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 774-790, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cultural and linguistic distances; Languages; Translations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

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