A Century of Language Barriers to Migration in India

Latika Chaudhary, Yannick Dupraz and James Fenske
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Latika Chaudhary: Naval Postgraduate School
Yannick Dupraz: Paris Dauphine University, PSL University, LEDA, CNRS, IRD
James Fenske: University of Warwick and CAGE

CAGE Online Working Paper Series from Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE)

Abstract: Combining detailed data on language and migration across colonial Indian districts in 1901 with a gravity model, we find origin and destination districts separated by more dissimilar languages saw less migration. We control for the physical distance between origin-destination pairs, several measures of dissimilarity in geographic characteristics, as well as origin and destination fixed effects. The results are robust to a regression discontinuity design that exploits spatial boundaries across language groups. We also find linguistic differences predict lower migration in 2001. Cultural channels are a small part of the link from linguistic diversity to lower migration. Rather, the evidence suggests communication and information channels are more important.

Keywords: Migration; Linguistic Diversity; India JEL Classification: N35; O15; Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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