Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP3718
Authors: Maristella Botticini; Zvi Eckstein
Abstract: Since the Middle Ages the Jews have been engaged primarily in urban, skilled occupations, such as crafts, trade, finance and medicine. This distinctive occupational selection occurred between the seventh and the ninth centuries in the Muslim Empire and spread to other locations. We argue that this transition was the outcome of the widespread literacy among Jews prompted by an educational reform in the first century CE. Based on the growing nexus between education and Judaism in the first half of the millennium, we build a model in which Jewish men choose education, occupation, religion and location. The model predicts that when urbanization expands (as it did in the Muslim Empire), Jews move to new cities due to their comparative advantage in urban, skilled occupations. Furthermore, before urbanization a proportion of Jewish farmers are predicted to convert to other religions. The predictions of the model regarding conversions, migrations and reduction in the size of the Jewish population are consistent with historical evidence from the first millennium provided by historians. Hence, our study presents evidence for the long-term economic implications of changes in social norms.
Keywords: first millennium; human capital; jewish economic history; migration; occupational choice; religion; social norms
JEL Codes: J10; J20; N30; O10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Educational reforms in Judaism (I28) | Widespread literacy among Jews (N34) |
| Widespread literacy among Jews (N34) | Comparative advantage in urban skilled occupations (J24) |
| Comparative advantage in urban skilled occupations (J24) | Occupational choices of Jews (N34) |
| Urbanization expansion in the Muslim Empire (N95) | Migration of Jews to cities (R23) |
| Educational background (A29) | Economic opportunities available in urban settings (R11) |
| Education costs (I22) | Religious conversion among Jewish farmers (P32) |
| Educational investment (I26) | Occupational choice (J29) |