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The economics of language: accents, trust and social exchange in labour markets
Includes bibliographical references.
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| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
School of Economics
2015
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| _version_ | 1867613716200030208 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Yagman, Ece |
| author2 | Burns, Justine |
| author_browse | Burns, Justine Yagman, Ece |
| author_facet | Burns, Justine Yagman, Ece |
| author_sort | Yagman, Ece |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Includes bibliographical references. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13011 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:40:34.108Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | School of Economics |
| publisherStr | School of Economics |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13011 The economics of language: accents, trust and social exchange in labour markets Yagman, Ece Burns, Justine Economics Includes bibliographical references. This thesis examines the role that English language, and accent in particular, might play in strategic interactions characterized by asymmetric information. The experiment in this study - named the Trust Game - is designed to reveal the degree of trust and trustworthiness individuals display towards each other when the only information they receive is the race and linguistic background of their partners. The results indicate that a mother tongue English accent matters in a positive way, both for trust and trustworthiness, and especially for Black participants. The second part of the thesis brings together third party evaluations to unpack the reasons why speaking English might be such a powerful asset to have. Here, the results provide evidence in support of the positive correlation between assessed trustworthiness and assessed positive attributes, especially for Black subjects who speak English with a mother tongue English accent. Overall, the empirical evidence suggests that speaking with a mother tongue English accent matters in strategic interactions and it operates through a strong link with positive connotations. Considering the historical and political background of South Africa and the powerful role that language played in colonialism and apartheid, its role in labour market outcomes is an important policy consideration. This is especially true since the post-1994 constitutional settlement envisages a multilingual setting for the citizens of South Africa. 2015-05-28T12:25:41Z 2015-05-28T12:25:41Z 2014 Master Thesis Masters MCom http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13011 eng application/pdf School of Economics Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Economics Yagman, Ece The economics of language: accents, trust and social exchange in labour markets |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | The economics of language: accents, trust and social exchange in labour markets |
| title_full | The economics of language: accents, trust and social exchange in labour markets |
| title_fullStr | The economics of language: accents, trust and social exchange in labour markets |
| title_full_unstemmed | The economics of language: accents, trust and social exchange in labour markets |
| title_short | The economics of language: accents, trust and social exchange in labour markets |
| title_sort | economics of language accents trust and social exchange in labour markets |
| topic | Economics |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13011 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yagmanece theeconomicsoflanguageaccentstrustandsocialexchangeinlabourmarkets AT yagmanece economicsoflanguageaccentstrustandsocialexchangeinlabourmarkets |