TY - JOUR
T1 - Language-in-education, language skills and the intergenerational transmission of language in a bilingual society
AU - Caminal, Ramon
AU - Cappellari, Lorenzo
AU - Di Paolo, Antonio
PY - 2021/6/1
Y1 - 2021/6/1
N2 - We investigate the causal effect of parents’ linguistic skills on the intergenerational language transmission in a bilingual society. We consider the case of Catalonia, where the two main speech communities, Spanish and Catalan, are of similar sizes, and both languages are official, and exploit the natural experiment generated by a language-in-education reform. We discuss theoretically the main alternative channels through which such policies may affect the language parents speak to their children. Empirically, we find that the reform improved oral skills in Catalan among native Spanish speakers. These greater skills increased the propensity to speak Catalan with the offspring, which highlights the intergenerational spill overs of the reform. We also show that the effect is not confounded by spurious trends, potential changes in language identity, and linguistically mixed partnership formation.
AB - We investigate the causal effect of parents’ linguistic skills on the intergenerational language transmission in a bilingual society. We consider the case of Catalonia, where the two main speech communities, Spanish and Catalan, are of similar sizes, and both languages are official, and exploit the natural experiment generated by a language-in-education reform. We discuss theoretically the main alternative channels through which such policies may affect the language parents speak to their children. Empirically, we find that the reform improved oral skills in Catalan among native Spanish speakers. These greater skills increased the propensity to speak Catalan with the offspring, which highlights the intergenerational spill overs of the reform. We also show that the effect is not confounded by spurious trends, potential changes in language identity, and linguistically mixed partnership formation.
KW - Intergenerational transmission
KW - Language
KW - Language proficiency
KW - Language-in-education reform
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/cf12675d-8349-375d-97e8-2d438076a3ce/
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103408983&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.labeco.2021.101975
DO - 10.1016/j.labeco.2021.101975
M3 - Article
SN - 0927-5371
VL - 70
JO - Labour Economics
JF - Labour Economics
M1 - 101975
ER -