Examines the relationship between linguistic plurality and the rationale of advertising decisions. The article presents a simple model of sales to different language groups as a function of the level of advertising in each language, language attitudes, incomes, and an advertising response function. The model is intended as a benchmark, and several…

Describes a study of the economics of language competence in Switzerland and the efficacy of education systems undertaken to develop guidelines for language policy. This study was mandated by such issues as the reassertion of local identities, unprecedented migration flows, the emergence of the European Union, and the intensification of…

A model of language vitality is proposed that is a function of preferences for language choice, percentage of language-minority speakers, and the expectations-based adjustment to the observed change in language vitality. It shows that long-term survival with low demolinguistic figures is possible and suggests policy guidelines for reversing…

A brief survey of existing contributions about language by economists is presented. An explanation is given of the fundamental economic reasoning on which minority language use can be modeled, and the presentation of a model of minority language use incorporating such aspects as goods, wage rates, prices, and the labor market is described.…