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Jewish Occupational Selection: Education, Restrictions, or Minorities?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2005

MARISTELLA BOTTICINI  and
ZVI ECKSTEIN
MARISTELLA BOTTICINI
Affiliation:
Associate Professor of Economics, Boston University, 270 Bay State Rd., Boston, MA 02215; Università di Torino, Via Po 53, 10124 Torino; and Research Associate of CEPR and of CHILD (Torino). E-mail: maristel@bu.edu or maristella.botticini@unito.it.
ZVI ECKSTEIN
Affiliation:
Professor of Economics, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978; University of Minnesota, 1035 Heller Hall, Minneapolis, MN 55455; Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, 90 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55401; and Research Associate of CEPR. E-mail: eckstein@post.tau.ac.il or eckstein@econ.umn.edu.
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Abstract

Before the eighth–ninth centuries CE, most Jews, like the rest of the population, were farmers. With the establishment of the Muslim Empire, almost all Jews entered urban occupations despite no restrictions prohibiting them from remaining in agriculture. This occupational selection remained their distinctive mark thereafter. Our thesis is that this transition away from agriculture into crafts and trade was the outcome of their widespread literacy prompted by a religious and educational reform in Judaism in the first and second centuries CE, which gave them a comparative advantage in urban, skilled occupations. We present evidence that supports our argument.

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The Journal of Economic History , Volume 65 , Issue 4 , December 2005 , pp. 922 - 948
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© 2005 The Economic History Association

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