INVESTMENTS IN LANGUAGE CAPITAL: A NETWORK BASED ANALYSIS FROM THE HUMAN CAPITAL PERSPECTIVE
INVESTMENTS IN LANGUAGE CAPITAL: A NETWORK BASED ANALYSIS FROM THE HUMAN CAPITAL PERSPECTIVE

Summary/Abstract: This study examines investments in linguistic capital as a component of human capital in a globalized economy. Addressing the lack of relational perspectives in existing research, the analysis is based on publicly available Duolingo data used to construct a directed and weighted network of language-learning flows. The results reveal a selective and hierarchical structure of investments, characterized by asymmetries, small-world properties, and a concentration of educational resources around languages with the highest expected economic returns. The findings indicate that linguistic capital is allocated through interconnected global structures shaped by network effects rather than independent individual choices.

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