Economics area to host seminar on ‘Language Barriers, Internal Migration and Labor Markets in General Equilibrium’ on 21 August
Session to be led by Dr. Amrutha Manjunath, University of Nottingham
19 August, 2025, Bengaluru: The Economics area of IIM Bangalore will host a seminar on, ‘Language Barriers, Internal Migration and Labor Markets in General Equilibrium’, from 4 pm to 5.30 pm on 21st August 2025, at P-21. The session will be led by Dr. Amrutha Manjunath, Nottingham Research Fellow in International Trade, University of Nottingham, UK.
Abstract: The paper studies how language barriers impact internal migration, the skill premium and aggregate welfare using rich microdata from India applied to a quantitative spatial general equilibrium framework. Four empirical facts are documented: (1) workers migrate less often to locations where they face high language barriers (2) migrants with high language barriers are employed less often in speaking-intensive occupations (3) migrants with high language barriers get a wage premium (4) these patterns are strongest for unskilled workers.
To explain these facts, a static migration model in which heterogeneous workers sort across occupations and locations by skill and language is developed and estimated, with wages accounting for worker selection and adjusting in general equilibrium. The paper then shows through the lens of the model how language barriers, by increasing worker sorting and selection, significantly obstruct internal migration, augment skill premium, and reduce aggregate welfare. As economies shift towards services, language barriers increasingly impede aggregate gains due to the rising prevalence of speaking-intensive occupations. In the absence of language barriers – relative to observed changes – structural change would have increased aggregate welfare by 1.9 percent. Finally, the research calibrates costs of both program provision and learning languages to evaluate potential benefits of language programs for unskilled migrants. Using the calibrated model, it is argued that welfare benefits of implementing language programs would outweigh costs.
About the speaker: Dr. Amrutha Manjunath is Nottingham Research Fellow in International Trade (2025-28), followed by appointment as Assistant Professor (from 2028) at the School of Economics, University of Nottingham, UK. She is a researcher at GEP and the ESRC-funded Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy (CITP). She earned her PhD in Economics from Pennsylvania State University. Her areas of research interest are trade, spatial, development.
Webpage link: https://www.amruthamanjunath.com/
Economics area to host seminar on ‘Language Barriers, Internal Migration and Labor Markets in General Equilibrium’ on 21 August
Session to be led by Dr. Amrutha Manjunath, University of Nottingham
19 August, 2025, Bengaluru: The Economics area of IIM Bangalore will host a seminar on, ‘Language Barriers, Internal Migration and Labor Markets in General Equilibrium’, from 4 pm to 5.30 pm on 21st August 2025, at P-21. The session will be led by Dr. Amrutha Manjunath, Nottingham Research Fellow in International Trade, University of Nottingham, UK.
Abstract: The paper studies how language barriers impact internal migration, the skill premium and aggregate welfare using rich microdata from India applied to a quantitative spatial general equilibrium framework. Four empirical facts are documented: (1) workers migrate less often to locations where they face high language barriers (2) migrants with high language barriers are employed less often in speaking-intensive occupations (3) migrants with high language barriers get a wage premium (4) these patterns are strongest for unskilled workers.
To explain these facts, a static migration model in which heterogeneous workers sort across occupations and locations by skill and language is developed and estimated, with wages accounting for worker selection and adjusting in general equilibrium. The paper then shows through the lens of the model how language barriers, by increasing worker sorting and selection, significantly obstruct internal migration, augment skill premium, and reduce aggregate welfare. As economies shift towards services, language barriers increasingly impede aggregate gains due to the rising prevalence of speaking-intensive occupations. In the absence of language barriers – relative to observed changes – structural change would have increased aggregate welfare by 1.9 percent. Finally, the research calibrates costs of both program provision and learning languages to evaluate potential benefits of language programs for unskilled migrants. Using the calibrated model, it is argued that welfare benefits of implementing language programs would outweigh costs.
About the speaker: Dr. Amrutha Manjunath is Nottingham Research Fellow in International Trade (2025-28), followed by appointment as Assistant Professor (from 2028) at the School of Economics, University of Nottingham, UK. She is a researcher at GEP and the ESRC-funded Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy (CITP). She earned her PhD in Economics from Pennsylvania State University. Her areas of research interest are trade, spatial, development.
Webpage link: https://www.amruthamanjunath.com/