Inequality, Growth, and Linguistic Diversity

By Shlomo Weber

Abstract Thursday, 5 June 2014 The bulk of economic research on the issue of diversity has been centered on the role of economic and wealth inequality in the global economy. However, 1:00 - 2:00 pm one cannot deny the impact of linguistic diversity on economic and political development, as well as on public policies. In spite of the claim that Location

“globalization proceeds in English”, linguistic diversity is a global social 148, av. de la Faïencerie phenomenon. On one hand, there are financial costs, communication L-1511 Luxembourg barriers, divisions in national unity, and, in some extreme cases, conflicts and Room BRC201 war, associated with linguistic diversity. On the other hand, there is a growing support for protection of group and an individual identity. In our lecture we will argue that denial or restriction of linguistic rights of various population Langue groups, or so-called linguistic disenfranchisement, could be detrimental for economic growth, political and social development. English

Registration - Free seminar Shlomo Weber, Robert H. and Nancy Dedman Trustee Professor of - Registration to [email protected] , Southern Methodist University, , USA, and the Leading (please specify full name and Scientist, the Center for Study of Diversity and Social Interactions, New institution) Economic School, . He holds M.Sc. cum laude in Mathematics from - Lunch is planned for registered and Ph.D. from Hebrew University of . participants Professor Weber served as the Chairman of the Department of Economics at SMU, the Research Director of CORE (Center for and Contact Econometrics) at the Catholic University of Louvain, , and the Academic Director of the International School of Economics, Tbilisi, Georgia. [email protected] He received various international prizes, including Alexander von Humboldt Tel: +352 46 66 44 6336

Prize for outstanding foreign scientists and the National Award for outstanding scientists from the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. His recent book (jointly with Victor Ginsburgh) on “How many languages do we need? Economics of linguistic diversity” has been published by the Princeton University Press. He also edited (jointly with Michael Alexeev) “The

Oxford Handbook of Russian Economy”, that has been published in 2013 by the Oxford University Press.