The Regulation of Language

Yehonatan Givati

Journal of Law and Economics, 2018, vol. 61, issue 3, 397 - 425

Abstract: Can language be centrally planned and controlled? Friedrich Hayek considered language the archetypal example of spontaneous order, yet many countries adopt a planned-order approach to language, attempting to centrally plan and control it through language academies. I collect original data on the regulation of language across countries and show that countries that adopt a planned-order approach to language also do so in their law and similarly rely on a planned-order approach in their economy. Countries that adopt a spontaneous-order approach to language also do so in their law and similarly rely on a spontaneous-order approach in their economy. This is consistent with the idea that these approaches are driven by an underlying cultural attitude toward the two types of order.

Date: 2018
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