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The bilingual advantage

Author

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  • Ainoa Aparicio Fenoll
  • Zoë Kuehn

Abstract

This paper tests for the so-called bilingual advantage, the notion that knowing more than one language improves individuals’ other cognitive skills. We use data on children of Latino immigrants in the United States who have been randomly assigned calculation tests in English or Spanish. After controlling for characteristics of children and their parents, we find that bilingual children perform 0.57 standard deviations better than monolingual children, almost equal to learning gains of two additional school years. Applying the Oster test, we find that selection on unobservables would need to be 10 times stronger than selection on observables to explain away our results. Our heterogeneity analysis reveals that the bilingual advantage is particularly strong among boys.

Suggested Citation

  • Ainoa Aparicio Fenoll & Zoë Kuehn, 2021. "The bilingual advantage," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 645, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    • Handle: RePEc:cca:wpaper:645
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Victor Ginsburgh & Shlomo Weber, 2016. "The Palgrave Handbook of Economics and Language," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/277408, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    2. Melitz, Jacques & Toubal, Farid, 2014. "Native language, spoken language, translation and trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 351-363.
    3. Ludger Woessmann, 2016. "The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 3-32, Summer.
    4. Hoyt Bleakley & Aimee Chin, 2010. "Age at Arrival, English Proficiency, and Social Assimilation among US Immigrants," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 165-192, January.
    5. Wößmann, Ludger, 2016. "The Importance of School Systems," Munich Reprints in Economics 43463, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    6. Emily Oster, 2019. "Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 187-204, April.
    7. Hoyt Bleakley & Aimee Chin, 2004. "Language Skills and Earnings: Evidence from Childhood Immigrants," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(2), pages 481-496, May.
    8. Fenoll, Ainhoa Aparicio, 2018. "English proficiency and mathematics test scores of immigrant children in the US," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 102-113.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    bilingualism; cognitive skills; selection on observables and unobservables.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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