The Economic Returns to Multiple Language Usage in Western Europe

Donald Williams

No 2006-07, IRISS Working Paper Series from IRISS at CEPS/INSTEAD

Abstract: To what extent are there economic returns to learning a second or third language? Do the benefits differ according to country? This paper examines the return to multi-lingualism in the workplace. In particular, we estimate the effect that using an additional language in one’s job has on earnings for a sample of workers in the European Community Household Panel survey. Log-earnings regressions are estimated by country with controls for standard human capital, job, and personal characteristics. Preliminary results indicate that the use of a second language in the workplace raises earnings by about 5 to 10 percent, but the results are sensitive to the specification used and vary across countries, occupations, and gender.

Keywords: language usage; Western Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (27)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:irs:iriswp:2006-07

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