The status of the translation profession in the European Union

Submission report, Brussels, 14 September 2012 Anthony Pym, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, European Society for Translation Studies Franois Grin, Universit de Genve Claudio Sfreddo, Haute cole spcialise de Suisse occidentale Andy L. J. Chan, Hong Kong City University

Contents
A : Overview of the research
Degrees and training Authorised/sworn translation Translators associations Modes of employment

B : Modelling of price determination and asymmetric information

in translation markets

C : Analysis of translators income, on the basis of an in-depth

study of a survey by the SFT.

D : General recommendations

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A. Overview of the research

Addresses six main questions Based on a survey of surveys Draws on 101 experts and informants Gives data on 137 translator associations (103 in EU Member States)

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Degrees and training

What is the relative status of academic qualifications and training?
Translation is an unprotected title except in Slovakia and outside of authorised/sworn translation. Employers recognise the IOL Diploma and Diplom-bersetzer status. Most employers (including intergovernmental organisations) do their own testing.

Authorised/sworn translation?
What schemes are in place for authorised/sworn translators?
Most countries have authorised/sworn translator as a protected title not delivered by an academic institution. In five countries access to the title can be via an academic institution. In seven countries, translations are certified by notaries or legal professionals, if at all. Greece is in flux.

Authorised/sworn translation?

This distribution does not correspond to Common

vs. Statutory law.

Translator associations
What is the role of professional organisations?
Many and varied: Certification (CIOL, ATA) Unionisation / political representation Information / training Job agency Protection of degrees from particular institutions (Greece, Cyprus, Estonia)

Translator associations
12000 10000

8000

6000

4000

2000

0 1880

1900

1920

1940

1960

1980

2000

2020

Year of foundation and number of members

Translator associations

Modes of employment
Approximately how many translators are parttime, in-house or freelance?
Part-time: about 60 percent (shared with teaching, interpreting, editing, writing) Freelance: about 74 percent, with much variation Women: 70 percent or above

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Employers
What values do employers attach to qualifications?
Employers expect translators to have a university degree, although not necessarily in translation. They give slightly more weight to experience. They tend to run their own tests for new recruits. The field of technical translation and localisation shows relatively few signs of market disorder.

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B. Price determination and asymmetric information in TMs

Chan (2008) suggests presence of asymmetric information (AI) in translation markets (TM). Market suffers from: adverse selection: prices paid by purchasers are low because of a priori unobservable level of competence of translators (Akerlof 1970) good translators leave the market average quality drops moral hazard: unobservable level of effort expended by translators actions are not observed

Price determination and asymmetric information in TMs

Model has two components: 1) constraints due to market equilibrium 2) behaviour of individual translators : high-skilled translators (group G, good) low-skilled translators (group B, bad)

Price determination and asymmetric information in TMs

1) Market-equilibrium constraint Market price increases: - if demand gets stronger or - if quality expected by purchasers improves

Price determination and asymmetric information in TMs

2) Behaviour of individual translators Two groups: high-skilled, low-skilled Each group has a minimum entry price Effort (e) expended by each group depends: positively on price (p) paid to translators (retribution) negatively on strength of demand (z) (compare with efficient wages) Quality of service provided depends on: effort expended and on skill level

Market dynamics and equilibrium: example 1

Quality expected by purchasers (Le): 0.7 ... 0.85 9 0.76 0.73
Price offered by purchasers (P): 42 ...40 ...39 38

Qlty offered by good translators (LG) ...0.8 0.90 ...0.87 8 0.86

Qlty offered by bad translators (LB) ...0.6 0.68 ...0.62 4 0.60

quality level at equilibrium = 0.73

Average qlty offered by market (L) ...0.7 ...0.74 0.79 6 5 0.73

Price determination and asymmetric information in TMs

The example shows that:

High-skilled translators provide a service with better-thanaverage quality If purchasers were able to identify the two groups of translators correctly, high-skilled translators would be paid more than equilibrium price cost (foregone income) incurred by high-skilled translators due to lack of clear and reliable signal Forgone income is not necessarily resorbed by stronger demand.

Price determination and asymmetric information in TMs

Consequences:

There is an incentive to acquire (costly) means to emit signals Cost of signals leads to an increase in minimum price demanded Abundance of signals produces noise, which leads to a drop in the value of signals.

Market dynamics and equilibrium with high minimum price (pmin for G = 40)
Quality expected by purchasers (Le): 0.85 0.79 ... 0.76 0.41 Price offered by purchasers (P): 42 ...40 27 ...39

Qlty offered by good translators (LG) 0.90 ...0.88 out out

Qlty offered by bad translators (LB) 0.68 ...0.64 ...0.62 0.41

quality level at equilibrium = 0.41

Average qlty offered by market (L) 0.79 ...0.76 ...0.62 0.41

Price determination and asymmetric information in TMs

Consequences:

At new price, only low-skilled translators stay in the market. Hence acquisition of signals, instead of raising the value of highskilled translators, has driven them out of the market. Hence the effect obtained by acquiring the signal exactly opposite of what was originally hoped (abundance of signals is eventually detrimental to signallers themselves). Despite good competences and efforts to acquire the right signal and strong demand, high-skilled translators can be underpaid or unemployed.

C. Analysis of translators incomes

The following is an in-depth analysis of the Enqute tarifs carried out by the Socit Franaise des Traducteurs in 2009. This is a descriptive report on translators profile, professional activity and billing practices.

Some key figures

Description of sample N=875 (incl. 78% women) 77% in France, of which 24% in the le-de-France region 91% freelancers 94% with a university degree (average duration of training: 4.9 years), in translation for 61% of respondents 23% of respondents also work as interpreters

Some key figures

Average rate charged by freelance translators in the sample: 0.143 per word / 44 per hour Average yearly income in FTE (full-time equivalent): 45,221

For the first time (to our knowledge), the data are used to estimate earnings equations (a standard approach in language economics, education economics, etc.), where the dependent variable is the (logarithm of) income in FTE.

Independent variables
Language combination, of which three are considered: dangfra, if a respondents main language combination is from English to French; dfraang, if a respondents main language combination is from French to English; dallfra, if a respondents main language combination is from German to French.
These variables are treated as dichotomous variables, informally known as dummies, which take the value 1 if they apply to a respondent, 0 otherwise; the default category is translation in any other language combination.

Independent variables
SFT membership Sex University education (in years following a French baccalaureate or equivalent) Professional experience (in years) The square of professional experience (because including this term allows to control of the obsolescence of work-related skills)

Independent variables
Other professional activities, if any, of the translator: interpreting (language) expertise other services Use of computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools Seniority (in number of years with the current employer)
This variable proceeds from a questionnaire item that refers to professional experience in translation. It differs from common definitions of experience in earnings equations, where it is routinely computed (lacking more specific information) as current age minus number of years of schooling minus average age of entry into the education system.

Types of estimation
Several dependent variables have been used: Price charged per word (see Report, 5.2.3) Hourly rate (see Report, 5.2.4) FTE (labour) income (see Report, 5.2.5, and following slides) Salary (see On translators salaries)
Estimations of FTE income appear to be the most reliable in terms of statistical fit, as well as those providing the most complete range of significant coefficients.

Estimation: FTE income

(N=640, adj. R2=0.171)

On translators salaries
Estimations suggest patterns that differ markedly from those that apply to freelance translators:
the coefficient for (female) genre is now positive, but not statistically significant language combination is irrelevant to the determination of income, reflecting equality of treatment within organisations university education is more highly rewarded living abroad (outside of France) is associated with significantly higher earnings, reflecting international contrasts in salaries Regressions of translators salaries yield high adjusted R2s, although the subsample is small; for this reason, this set of data must be handled with caution.

Concluding comments on income

Significant effects (positive or negative depending on variable concerned): language combination sex experience university education SFT membership These results are exploratory there is ample room for further research with better data.

D. Final recommendations
Address paraprofessionals and immigrant languages. Address languages of export and negotiation. Ensure payment by the main beneficiaries. Seek cross-border recognition of qualifications and certifications; Coordinate with certification systems operative in the United States, Canada, Australia and China. Incorporate employer groups. Build on examination and certification systems that currently have a positive market value. Be wary of granting automatic professional certification on the basis of academic degrees alone.
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