Abstract
The paper examines a passage in the Talmud regarding the attitude of Jewish Law toward the earnings of a married women. Considering a wife and her husband as two consumers who have preferences over income and "good feelings," it analyzes a controversy in the Gemara over the distribution of the wife's earnings. Using economic tools the paper shows that a rule enabling the wife to trade her earnings only in terms of "all or nothing" actually imposes a Pareto-optimal allocation within the family, one that is unlikely to resuh from a negotiated agreement.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 57-67 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Contemporary Jewry |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1999 |