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Linguistic fractionalization, trade, and welfare
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Linguistic fractionalization, trade, and welfare

Tamara Gurevich, Peter R. Herman, Farid Toubal and Yoto V. Yotov
Economic inquiry, v 63(4), pp 1201-1231
Oct 2025
url
https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.70003View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Business & Economics Economics Social Sciences
We examine the implications of linguistic fractionalization on trade and welfare, focusing on the United States. Our model identifies the direct and indirect effects of fractionalization on international and domestic trade and welfare. We construct a novel dataset to show that changes in fractionalization impact trade, leading to significant economic consequences. To highlight the general equilibrium implications, we conduct simulations on language policy-induced changes in the shares and the composition of Hispanic speakers within the United States, showing the importance of considering language policies, as they can yield substantial economic benefits but also sizable economic consequences stretching beyond national borders.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Economics
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