Language Rights - A Welfare-Economics Approach

Bengt-Arne Wickström

No 5491, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Distributions of language rights in multilingual settings are analyzed from a normative viewpoint in this chapter. If the cost structure of providing rights is concave in the number of beneficiaries, then a critical-mass criterion for the determination of an optimal rights structure results. It is further shown that an efficiency analysis based on a ‘naive’ cost-benefit calculation has to be augmented in various ways if rights influence the status of a language, which in turn influences the preferences for language rights. Also the inter-generational transfer of language repertoires to the next generation leads to an endogeneity of preferences. The endogeneity of preferences in turn can make the cost-benefit analysis contradictory. In a welfare-maximizing approach, redistribution goals further modify the analysis.

Keywords: efficiency; cost-benefit analysis; economic justice; changeable preferences; language rights; linguistic justice; language policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D61 D63 H59 K19 Z19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_5491

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