The Oxford Handbook of Judaism and Economics

At once it must be recognized that religious law by its very nature regulates and restricts the conduct of its adherents. One of the major foci of The Oxford Handbook of Judaism and Economics is therefore to describe the impact economic regulation in Jewish law has on the integration of Jews into the economic fabric of societies governed by different legal systems. Factors that impede integration, as well as those that facilitate it, are identified. More globally, a number of the papers in this volume discuss the positive contribution of Jewish business ethics to the morality of the marketplace, as well as Jewish legal perspectives on economic public policy. In the discipline of economics, advances in theory provide the grist for debate regarding the appropriate role for government. Accordingly, this volume presents papers dealing with economic theory in the Bible and Talmud, as well as comparative law studies that relate to economics. Also included are studies of the influence of religious economic law on the economic sphere of life in societies of the past. Finally, this work investigates how successfully Jews, as a people, have integrated into American economic life, and the related question of how economic forces have played a role in causing the American Jew to assimilate, shedding religious practice and commitment.

CONTRIBUTORS; PROLOGUE; PREFACE; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; INTRODUCTION; AARON LEVINE; 1. THE RIGHT OF RETURN: THE BIBLICAL LAW OF THEFT; ELIAKIM KATZ AND JACOB ROSENBERG; 2. ELIEZER THE MATCHMAKER: ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND MODERN NEGOTIATION THEORY; AARON LEVINE; 3. LAND CONCENTRATION, EFFICIENCY, SLAVERY AND THE JUBILEE; JACOB ROSENBERG AND AVI WEISS; 4. RISK AND INCENTIVES IN THE ISKA CONTRACT; JEFFREY L. CALLEN; 5. EXTERNALITIES AND PUBLIC GOODS IN THE TALMUD; EPHRAIM KLEIMAN; 6. AN EXTENDED TALMUDIC SEARCH MODEL; YEHOSHUA LIEBERMANN; 7. OPTIMAL PRECAUTIONS AND THE LAW OF FIRE DAMAGES; JACOB ROSENBERG; 8. VALUATION IN JEWISH LAW; KEITH SHARFMAN; 9. COULD WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW HURT YOU?; INFORMATION ASYMMETRY IN LAND MARKETS IN LATE ANTIQUITY; P.V.(MEYLEKH) VISWANATH AND MICHAEL SZENBERG; 10. HETTER ISKA, THE PERMISSIBLE VENTURE; A DEVICE TO AVOID THE PROHIBITION AGAINST INTEREST-BEARING LOANS; J. DAVID BLEICH; 11. ETHICAL DEMANDS ON CREDITORS IN JEWISH TRADITION; YOEL DOMB; 12. THE JEWISH PROHIBITION OF INTEREST; THEMES, SCOPES, AND CONTEMPORARY APPLICATIONS; DANIEL Z. FELDMAN; 13. INTERLOPING BEHAVIOR IN THE MARKETPLACE IN JEWISH LAW; HOWARD JACHTER; 14. PRINCIPLES OF ETHICAL AND COMMUNAL INVESTMENT IN JUDAISM - A JEWISH LAW APPROACH; ASHER MEIR; 15. THE ART OF MORAL CRITICISM: REBUKE IN THE JEWISH TRADITION AND BEYOND; MOSES L. PAVA; 16. "KNOW BEFORE WHOM YOU STAND" TRUST, THE MARKETPLACE AND JUDAISM; JONAS PRAGER; 17. PAYMENT FOR ORGAN DONATION IN JEWISH LAW; FRED ROSNER AND EDWARD REICHMAN; 18. THE THEORY OF "EFFICIENT BREACH": A JEWISH LAW PERSPECTIVE; RONALD WARBURG; 19. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW; FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF JEWISH LAW; MICHAEL J. BROYDE; 20. JEWISH ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS; YEHUDA L. KLEIN AND JONATHAN WEISER; 21. THE GLOBAL RECESSION OF 2007-2009- THE MORAL FACTOR; AND JEWISH LAW; AARON LEVINE; 22. THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT, UNIONS AND UNIONIZING IN JEWISH LAW; DANI RAPP; 23. RABBINIC RESPONSES TO RAPID INFLATION IN ISRAEL, 1973-1985; DANIEL SCHIFFMAN; 24. JEWISH ETHICS, THE STATE, AND ECONOMIC FREEDOM; MEIR TAMARI; 25. ECONOMIC SUBSTANCE AND THE LAWS OF INTEREST: A COMPARISON OF JEWISH AND U.S. FEDERAL TAX LAW; ADAM CHODOROW; 26. TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP IN E-COMMERCE TRNSACTIONS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF JEWISH LAW: IN LIGHT OF ISRAELI AND AMERICAN LAW; RON S. KLEINMAN AND AMAL JABAREEN; 27. THE JEWISH GUARANTOR AND SECULAR LAW; STUMBLING BLOCKS AND THEIR REMOVAL; ROGER LISTER; 28. BABYLONIAN JEWS AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE; IRANIAN ECONOMY AND SASANIAN LAW; YAAKOV ELMAN; 29. COINS AND MONEY IN JEWISH LAW AND LITERATURE; A BASIC INTRODUCTION AND SELECTIVE SURVEY; LAURENCE J. RABINOVICH; 30. TALMUDIC MONETARY THEORY; CURRENCY IN RABBINIC HALAKHAH; LAWRENCE H. SCHIFFMAN; 31. THE ECONOMIC PROGRESS OF AMERICAN JEWRY; FROM 18TH CENTURY MERCHANTS TO; 21ST CENTURY PROFESSIONALS; BARRY R. CHISWICK; 32. HOW ECONOMICS HELP SHAPE AMERICAN JUDAISM; CARMEL ULLMAN CHISWICK; GLOSSARY; LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS; NAME INDEX; SUBJECT INDEX