AbstractThe territoriality principle stipulates that minority communities in a given territory should be linguistically accommodated. What are the economic effects of this principle? In this paper, we argue that the recognition of multiple languages confers respect on the minority group; it allows people to engage and participate meaningfully in society – thereby facilitating economic well-being. There is, however, a caveat: when recognition happens in areas where the minority is the overwhelming majority, there is a risk that the near-exclusive use of the minority language cuts the community off from the larger national state, which in turn stunts development. To test this, we focus on Transylvania, Romania. We leverage a legal stipulation that recognizes minority languages in areas where the minority constitutes more than 20% of the population. Using data at the municipal level, we find that recognition increases economic well-being in general – but not in areas where the minority are numerically dominant. Our results are normatively welcoming, but they also caution governments not simply to recognize minority languages but also to protect them adequately.

中文翻译：

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属地原则的经济影响

摘要 地域性原则规定，在特定地域内的少数民族社区应在语言上得到包容。这个原则的经济效果是什么？在本文中，我们认为对多种语言的认可赋予了少数群体的尊重；它使人们能够有意义地参与和参与社会，从而促进经济福祉。然而，有一个警告：当少数族裔占绝大多数的地区发生承认时，几乎完全使用少数族裔语言有可能使社区与更大的民族国家隔绝，进而阻碍发展. 为了测试这一点，我们将重点放在罗马尼亚的特兰西瓦尼亚。我们利用一项法律规定，承认少数民族占人口 20% 以上的地区的少数民族语言。使用市政层面的数据，我们发现承认总体上提高了经济福利——但在少数族裔占主导地位的地区却没有。我们的结果在规范上是受欢迎的，但它们也提醒政府不仅要承认少数民族语言，还要充分保护它们。