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Cultural factors and especially common languages are well-known determinants of trade.

By contrast, the knowledge of foreign languages was not explored in the literature so far. We combine traditional gravity models with data on fluency in the main languages used in EU and candidate countries. We show that widespread knowledge of languages is an important determinant of foreign trade, with English playing an especially important role. The robustness of our results is confirmed when considering a natural experiment of trade between Eastern and Western Europe.

Jan Fidrmuc is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics and Finance, Brunel University. His research interests include political economy, economic development, institutional economics and labour/family economics. He has published his research in leading European and international peer-reviewed journals, including the European Economic Review, European Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Comparative Economics, and Electoral Studies.

• For more details contact: Dr Svetlana Makarova

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