Firm internationalization and demand for foreign language skills: a firm-level investigation

Relying on a rich firm-level dataset, we investigate the factors underlying firm’s demand for foreign language skills, with a focus on internationalization activities. Our univariate and multivariate probit estimates show that the probability to demand for foreign language skills increases with firm’s size, human capital, engagement in R&D and increasing exposure to foreign trade. When including the demand for other attributes of job applicants, we find that the effect of increased internationalization is higher for firms also demanding for professional occupations, post-secondary school degree, specific experience and for basic computer skills.