Research Interests & Abilities

• Economics of labour market
• discrimination
• Male-female earnings
• differentials
• Effects of language skills on
• earnings in the federal public
• service

Major Research Activities

In Canada, analysis of the economics of language has focused mainly on the returns to bilingualism. See, for example, Shapiro and Stelcner (1997), Breton (1978, 1998), and Christofides and Swidinsky (1998). Christofides and Swidinsky propose to investigate two additional economic aspects of language, both of which are related to the language development of children. The investigation will focus on the empirical analysis, but it will also involve appropriate theoretical modelling. First, they propose to estimate the economic returns to French immersion schooling in English Canada. After more than 25 years of experience with such programs what evidence is there that French immersion children have more favourable labour market outcomes? Second, what are the labour market implications of retaining or learning a heritage language in addition to one, or both, official languages? A significant proportion of non-Anglophone and non-Francophone immigrants transfer their heritage languages to the next generation, and even many Canadian-born parents keep a heritage language alive in their children. Furthermore, public policy encourages such language behaviour through heritage language programs and multiculturalism. Such additional language fluency should enhance human capital, but is this human capital rewarded in the labour market?

CLLRNet Research Projects

• The Economic Value of Language Acquisition  (Project Leader)

Last Modified: January 21 2002 14:50:15.