RT Journal Article
T1 The measurement of the value of a language
A1 Moreno-Ternero, Juan D.
A1 Alcalde-Unzu, Jorge
A1 Weber, Shlomo
K1 Value of a language
K1 Communicative benefits
K1 Measure
K1 Axioms
K1 Characterization
AB We address the problem of assessing the value of a language. We consider a stylized model of multi- lingual societies in which we introduce axioms formalizing the principles of impartiality, monotonicity, invariance and consistency. We show that the combination of these axioms characterizes a family of communicative benefit functions which assign a value to each language in the society. The functions within the family involve a two-step procedure. First, they identify the groups of agents that can communicate in each language. Second, each group is assigned an aggregate (size-dependent) value, which is evenly divided among the languages in which the group can communicate. Our novel approach could be useful in a wide range of empirical applications and policy decisions.
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10433/14242
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10433/14242
LA en
NO Journal of Economic Theory 203 (2022) 105468
NO Identificador de proyecto: PID2020-115011GB-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033; PGC2018-093542-B-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe
NO Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics, Carretera de Utrera, Km. 1, 41013, Seville, Spain
DS RIO
RD Apr 24, 2026