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  3. American Economic Review
  4. May 2011
  5. Learn English, Not the Local Language! Ethnic Russians in the Baltic States

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

Learn English, Not the Local Language! Ethnic Russians in the Baltic States

  • Ott Toomet
American Economic Review
vol. 101, no. 3, May 2011
(pp. 526–31)
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Abstract

This paper analyzes the return to dominant language fluency for ethnic Russians in the Baltic States. We look at male workers using Estonian Labor Force Survey for years 2000-2010 and the 1998 wave of a panel of high-school graduates of 1982. The results indicate that the ethnic Russian men enjoy little income premium on their skills of the dominant language. We identify positive returns only in the low end of the income distribution and in public administration sector. Surprisingly, the returns to English fluency are far larger. These outcomes point toward segregation and discrimination at the upper-end hiring.

Citation

Toomet, Ott. 2011. "Learn English, Not the Local Language! Ethnic Russians in the Baltic States." American Economic Review, 101 (3): 526–31. DOI: 10.1257/aer.101.3.526

JEL Classification

  • D31 Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
  • H83 Public Administration; Public Sector Accounting and Audits
  • I21 Analysis of Education
  • J15 Economics of Minorities and Races; Non-labor Discrimination
  • J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity