How Many Languages Do We Need? (ebook)

Argumento de How Many Languages Do We Need? (ebook)

"This is a good book--clear, comprehensive, and easy to read. Ginsburgh and Weber cover several topics, including linguistic policies, diversity and standardization, economic costs and benefits, and multilingualism as a source of conflict and sometimes war."--Choice

"[V]ery few books have been written on the economics of linguistic diversity, and this book takes a valuable step towards remedying this situation. It offers a nice nontechnical overview of the field, and has something interesting to offer to economists, sociologists, and linguists interested in linguistic diversity, language policy, and their implications."--Isabelle Sin, Journal of Economic History

"This is an essential book for all the policymakers, linguists, and language ideologues who will not understand the mathematics of the economists' calculations."--Anthony Pym, European Legacy

"[T]his book makes a welcome contribution by providing a simple and succinct presentation of an otherwise complex interdisciplinary problem. In comparison to much of the Economics literature, it provides a far more nuanced picture of linguistic diversity and the associated policy challenges."--Vikas Kumar, Journal of Economic Issues

"In sum, their book is a fascinating, thought-provoking introduction to a large body of work at the frontier of a new, exciting area of economic research, which includes not only the economics of linguistic diversity, but, more generally, the economics of culture and institutions."--Enrico Spolaore, Journal of Regional Science

"A language is both a means of communication and a repository of culture. By limiting the number of languages, we make it easier for people to understand one another, but we leave the world a less interesting place. Victor Ginsburgh and Shlomo Weber explore this trade-off and much else in their rich and fascinating book."--Eric S. Maskin, Nobel Laureate in Economics

"The authors succeed brilliantly in laying out a coherent framework that explains the critical and substantive issues for the economics of linguistic diversity."--Antonio Merlo, University of Pennsylvania

"Language is what unifies people. It is also what divides them. This paradox was first observed in the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel, and the contradiction continues to plague modern times. Ginsburgh and Weber provide a brilliant analysis of this persistent and urgent problem, and they explore this vital question: given that linguistic diversity has costs, how much diversity can we afford in today's world?"--Dean Keith Simonton, University of California, Davis

"This book's argument is straightforward, the volume of literature assembled is impressive, and the econometric contribution is excellent. The authors prove that econometric methods can be expanded into a field as challenging as linguistic diversity."--Michael Hutter, Technische Universität Berlin

"While there has been a great deal of work on linguistic diversity in economics over the last twenty years, no book has emerged on the topic to date. Examining matters from ethnography to labor, political, cultural, and trade issues, this accessible and important book fills the void."--Jacques Melitz, Heriot-Watt University

"There are few subjects as complex and sensitive as the use of languages in a society. The affection of an individual for his language reflects on the whole social group and the language becomes the property of the clan, tribe, territory, and nation. This book describes the range of issues that this raises and the complexities of the trade-off between protecting languages and the possible gains that would result from a reduction of their number."--Michel Vanden Abeele, former director general, Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission

"In their intriguing book How Many Languages Do We Need?, Victor Ginsburgh and Shlomo Weber illuminate how language diversity affects growth, trade and economic development."--David Throsby, Times Literary Supplement0Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: My Language IsMy Homeland 7

Chapter 2: Linguistic Policies, Disenfranchisement, and Standardization 16
1. Linguistic Diversity: A Brief Look at the Past 16
2. Linguistic Standardization: Roots, Benefits, and Some Examples 18
3. Some Painful Aspects of Standardization 21
4. HowMany Languages: IsMore theMerrier, or Is Small Beautiful? 26
5. Summary 28

Chapter 3: Linguistic, Genetic, and Cultural Distances: How Far Is Nostratic? 29
1. Languages and Dialects 30
2. Distances between Languages 33
3. Distances between Groups 48
4. Summary 55

Chapter 4: DistancesMatter 56
1. International Trade 57
2. Migrations 63
3. Literary Translations 65
4. The Eurovision Song Contest: Is Voting Political or Cultural? 74
5. Summary 82

Chapter 5: Individual Communicative Benefits 84
1. Modeling Language Learning 86
2. Demand Functions for Languages 93
3. Private Returns on Languages 98
4. Summary 107

Chapter 6: Diversity and Disenfranchisement Indices 108
1. Fractionalization and Polarization Indices 110
2. Disenfranchisement Indices 126
3. Links between Fractionalization, Disenfranchisement, and Communication Indices 137
4. Summary 139
5. Appendix: Numerical Calculation of the Various Disenfranchisement Indices 140

Chapter 7: Diversity and Disenfranchisement: Applications 142
1. Fractionalization and Polarization Indices 143
2. Disenfranchisement Indices: The Example of the EU 151
3. Summary 160

Chapter 8: Multilingualism in the European Union: A Case Study in Linguistic Policy 162
1. Twenty-three Languages, and More to Come 162
2. Possible Solutions 177
3. Summary 199

Conclusions 201
Bibliography 205
Index 223