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Title: Learning Foreign Languages.Theoretical and Empirical Implications of the Selten and Pool Model

Author(s): Victor Ginsburgh, Ignacio Ortuño-Ortín and Shlomo Weber

Publication Date: March 2005

Keyword(s): communicative benefits, estimation of demand functions for languages, European Union, languages, learning costs and linguistic distances

Programme Area(s): Public Economics

Abstract: In this paper we adopt the Selten-Pool model (1993) framework of language acquisition that is based on the notion of communicative benefits and learning costs. We consider a model with languages that serve as imperfect substitutes and show that under supermodularity of the communicative benefits function and some other mild conditions, there exists a unique interior linguistic equilibrium. We then derive a demand function for foreign languages that we estimate for English, French, German and Spanish in 13 European countries.

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Bibliographic Reference

Ginsburgh, V, Ortuño-Ortín, I and Weber, S. 2005. 'Learning Foreign Languages.Theoretical and Empirical Implications of the Selten and Pool Model'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=4942