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The Catalan premium: language and employment in Catalonia

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  • Sílvio Rendon

Abstract

This paper measures the contribution of knowing Catalan to finding a job in Catalonia. In the early eighties a drastic language policy change (normalització) promoted the learning and use of Catalan and managed to reverse the falling trend of its relative use versus Castilian (Spanish), thereby recovering its economic value. Using census data for 1991 and 1996, I estimate a significant positive Catalan premium: the probability of being employed increases between 3 and 5 percentage points if individuals know how to read and speak Catalan; it increases between 1 and 4 percentage points for writing Catalan. This premium is substantially higher for women than for men, and decreasing in schooling and in age.
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  • Sílvio Rendon, 2007. "The Catalan premium: language and employment in Catalonia," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 20(3), pages 669-686, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:20:y:2007:i:3:p:669-686
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-005-0048-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Antonio Di Paolo & Josep Lluís Raymond, 2012. "Language Knowledge and Earnings in Catalonia," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 89-118, May.
    2. Javier Ortega & Gregory Verdugo, 2015. "Assimilation in multilingual cities," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(3), pages 785-815, July.
    3. Antonio Di Paolo & Aysit Tansel, 2015. "Returns to Foreign Language Skills in a Developing Country: The Case of Turkey," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 407-421, April.
    4. Ramon Caminal, 2013. "The economic value of reciprocal bilingualism," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 933.13, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    5. Cappellari, Lorenzo & Di Paolo, Antonio, 2018. "Bilingual schooling and earnings: Evidence from a language-in-education reform," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 90-101.
    6. Zorlu, Aslan & Hartog, Joop, 2018. "The Impact of Language on Socioeconomic Integration of Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 11485, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Antonio Paolo & Aysit Tansel, 2019. "English skills, labour market status and earnings of Turkish women," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(4), pages 669-690, November.
    8. 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.
    9. Caminal, Ramon & Cappellari, Lorenzo & Di Paolo, Antonio, 2018. "Linguistic Skills and the Intergenerational Transmission of Language," IZA Discussion Papers 11793, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Markowsky, Eva & Wolf, Fridolin & Schäfer, Marie, 2022. "Immigrant bilingualism in the German labour market: Between human capital, social networks, and ethnic marginalisation," WiSo-HH Working Paper Series 68, University of Hamburg, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, WISO Research Laboratory.
    11. Jacek Liwiński, 2019. "The wage premium from foreign language skills," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(4), pages 691-711, November.
    12. Casale, Daniela & Posel, Dorrit, 2011. "English language proficiency and earnings in a developing country: The case of South Africa," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 385-393, August.
    13. Schild, Christopher-Johannes & Wrede, Matthias, 2015. "Cultural identity, mobility and decentralization," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 323-333.
    14. Armstrong, Alex, 2015. "Equilibria and efficiency in bilingual labour markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 204-220.
    15. Michele Gazzola & Daniele Mazzacani, 2019. "Foreign language skills and employment status of European natives: evidence from Germany, Italy and Spain," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(4), pages 713-740, November.
    16. Antonio di Paolo, 2011. "Knowledge of catalan, public/prívate sector choice and earnings: Evidence from a double sample selection model," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 197(2), pages 9-35, June.
    17. Afful, Efua Amoonua, 2013. "Heterogeneity in the Importance of English-Speaking Ability in Determination of Employment Status by Demographic Subgroups in the United States," MPRA Paper 58767, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Gao, Wenshu & Smyth, Russell, 2011. "Economic returns to speaking 'standard Mandarin' among migrants in China's urban labour market," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 342-352, April.
    19. Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo & José-Ignacio Antón, 2011. "From Rags to Riches? Immigration and Poverty in Spain," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 30(5), pages 661-676, October.
    20. Andrés Rodríguez‐Pose & Daniel Hardy, 2021. "Reversal of economic fortunes: Institutions and the changing ascendancy of Barcelona and Madrid as economic hubs," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 48-70, March.
    21. Antonio Di Paolo & Aysit Tansel, 2015. "Returns to Foreign Language Skills in a Developing Country: The Case of Turkey," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 407-421, April.
    22. Caminal, Ramon & Cappellari, Lorenzo & Di Paolo, A., 2021. "Language-in-education, language skills and the intergenerational transmission of language in a bilingual society," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    23. Bengt-Arne Wickström, 2014. "Indigenes, immigration, and integration: a welfare-economics approach to minority rights," Chapters, in: Francesco Forte & Ram Mudambi & Pietro Maria Navarra (ed.), A Handbook of Alternative Theories of Public Economics, chapter 10, pages 227-242, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    24. L. Pieroni & G. d’Agostino & D. Lanari & M. Scarlato, 2024. "Immigrant Labour Market Outcomes: New Insights from a Lack of Language Proficiency in Italy," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 10(1), pages 293-327, March.
    25. de la Fuente Stevens, Diego & Pelkonen, Panu, 2021. "Economics of Minority Groups: Labour Market Returns and Transmission of Indigenous Languages," IZA Discussion Papers 14539, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Language; Immigration; Skill premium; J61; J70; J31; I20;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J70 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - General
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General

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