Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/51508 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2006
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 586
Publisher: 
Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department, Washington, DC
Abstract: 
Language serves two key functions. It enables communication between agents, which allows for the establishment and operation of formal and informal institutions. It also serves a less obvious function, a reassuring quality more closely related to issues linked with trust, social capital, and cultural identification. While research on the role of language as a learning process is widespread, there is no evidence on the role of language as a signal of cultural affinity. I pursue this latter avenue of research and show that subtle language affinity is positively linked with change in earnings when using English-speaking data for cities in the Golden Horseshoe area in Southern Ontario during the period 1991 to 2001. The results are robust to changes in specification, a broad number of empirical tests, and a diverse set of outcome variables.
Subjects: 
Linguistics
Culture
English
Trust
Governance
Institutions
Canada
JEL: 
O40
Z13
O51
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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