The Economics of Religion, Jewish Survival and Jewish Attitudes Toward Competition in Torah Education

30 Pages Posted: 25 Aug 2000 Last revised: 28 Dec 2022

See all articles by Dennis W. Carlton

Dennis W. Carlton

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Avi Weiss

Bar-Ilan University - Department of Economics; Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Date Written: August 2000

Abstract

This paper examines the attitude of Jewish law to competition in light of the economist's understanding of the benefits of competition and of the beneficiaries from intervention in the competitive process. The punchline of this paper is simple. Although Judaism has used a whole host of restrictions on competition and has had its share of legislation to promote private interests, there has been one area that has generally been a consistent exception to impediments to competition -- the teaching of Torah. This exception is all the more remarkable because those who were in a position to influence the legislation often stood to benefit from such restrictions. From this stress on teaching, we show that the foundation was laid for the survival and perpetuation of Judaism.

Suggested Citation

Carlton, Dennis W. and Weiss, Avi, The Economics of Religion, Jewish Survival and Jewish Attitudes Toward Competition in Torah Education (August 2000). NBER Working Paper No. w7863, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=240059

Dennis W. Carlton (Contact Author)

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

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Avi Weiss

Bar-Ilan University - Department of Economics ( email )

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Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel ( email )

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IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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