Journal of Economics and Econometrics Vol. 56, No. 1, 2013 pp. 39-60 ISSN 2032-9652 E-ISSN 2032-9660 Linguistic Diversity and Preferences: Econometric Evidence from European Cities LAURA ONOFRI, PAULO A.L.D. NUNES, JASONE CENOZ, DURK GORTER †1 ABSTRACT This multidisciplinary study adopts an econometric analysis for investigating how different characteristics determine the choice of the language used in the signs of a shopping street in two selected minority language cities. We use a dataset containing about 200 observations collected in the main shopping streets of the cities of Donostia (Spain) and Ljouwert (The Netherlands). The results corroborate the important assumption that linguistic landscape, multilingualism and the choice of the language (even in a street sign) is an individual and a social preference. Understanding linguistic preferences’ structures is preliminary to the target and design of proper linguistic and social policies. JEL Classification: C01, R20, Z13. Keywords: Linguistic Diversity, Street Sign, Probit Model, Linguistic Landscape, Minority Language. † Corresponding author: Laura Onofri, Department of Economics, University of Venice Ca' Foscari, Italy. Department of Economics, University of Venice, S. Giobbe 873, 30121 Venice, Italy. Tel: + 39 041 2349144; Fax: + 39 041 2347350. Email: lonofri@unive.it. Paulo A.L.D. Nunes: The Mediterranean Science Commission (CIESM), Monaco, and Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, University of Padua, Italy. Jasone Cenoz: Department of Research Methods in Education, University of the Basque Country, Spain. Durk Gorter: University of the Basque Country – IKERBASQUE, Spain. The authors thank two anonymous referees for their comments and helpful suggestions.