Language as a proxy for cultural change. A contrastive analysis for French and Italian lexicon on male homosexuality

Bevilacqua, Michele; Cerciello, Massimiliano

doi:10.1007/s11135-021-01121-x

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…A vast literature, counting both theoretical and applied works, has already tackled these problems, as well as their economic consequences (see Lane, 2016 for a thorough review). Fewer studies have covered instead the role of discriminatory words (notable exceptions are Cotter, 2007;Agovino et al, 2022), while even fewer have focused on the language of female discrimination. Linguistic research indicates that several language features may enforce and reinforce discrimination (Moscatelli et al, 2008).…”

Section: Theoretical Framework: Language As a Measure Of Discriminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lexicon is especially interesting in this view, since it represents the simplest and most straightforward instrument through which cultural categories materialise and are reiterated (Reisigl and Wodak, 2003;Agovino et al, 2022). Insulting and derogatory terms in particular convey in an immediate fashion societal stances against certain social groups.…”

Section: Theoretical Framework: Language As a Measure Of Discriminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Framework: Language As a Measure Of Discriminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Measuring female discrimination through language: a novel indicator and its effect on production efficiency in Italy

Bevilacqua

Cerciello

2023

IJM

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PurposeWhile the economic literature mostly tackled discrimination looking at labour costs, this work focuses on its relation to labour productivity, arguing that discrimination may worsen the performance of female employees. In this view, it represents a source of allocative inefficiency, which contributes to reducing output.Design/methodology/approachFemale discrimination is both a social and an economic problem. In social terms, consolidated gender stereotypes impose constraints on women’s behaviour, worsening their overall well-being. In economic terms, women face generally worse labour market conditions. Using long-run Italian data spanning from 1861 to 2009, the authors propose a novel measure of female discrimination based on the observed frequency of discriminating epithets. Following social capital theory, the authors distinguish between structural and voluntary discrimination, and use Data Envelopment Analysis for time series data to assess the extent of inefficiency that each component of discrimination induces in the production process.FindingsThe results draw the trajectory of female discrimination in Italy and provide evidence in favour of the idea that female discrimination reduces productive efficiency. In particular, the structural component of female discrimination, although less sizeable than the voluntary component, plays a major role, especially in recent years, where more stringent beauty standards fuel looks-based discrimination.Originality/value The contribution of this work is twofold. First, based on contributions from social sciences different from economics, it proposes a novel theoretical framework that explores the effect of discriminatory language on labour productivity. Second, it introduces a novel and direct measure of female discrimination at the country level, based on the bidirectional link between language and culture. The indicator is easily understood by policymakers and may be used to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-discrimination policies.

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Section: Theoretical Framework: Language As a Measure Of Discriminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Framework: Language As a Measure Of Discriminationmentioning

confidence: 99%