Development and Religious Polarization: The Emergence of Reform and Ultra-Orthodox Judaism

Jewish emancipation in nineteenth century Europe produced drastically different responses. In Germany, a liberal variant known as Reform developed, while ultra-Orthodox Judaism emerged in eastern Europe. We develop a model of religious organization which explains this polarization. In developed regions, religious authorities embrace the prospect of cultural integration by relaxing prohibitions and benefitting from greater financial contributions. In poorer regions, religious authorities adopt a strategy of cultural resistance, enforcing prohibitions to elicit greater contributions of effort. In regions of intermediate development, religious schisms and cycles occur. This analytic narrative sheds light on how economic development can lead to cultural change.club goods, religious polarization, community, Jewish emancipation

Taxes, lawyers, and the decline of witch trials in France

This paper explores the rise of the fiscal state in the early modern period and its impact on legal capacity. To measure legal capacity, we establish that witchcraft trials were more likely to take place where the central state had weak legal insti- tutions. Combining data on the geographic distribution of witchcraft trials with unique panel data on tax receipts across 21 French regions, we find that the rise of the tax state can account for much of the decline in witch trials during this period. Further historical evidence supports our hypothesis that higher taxes led to better legal institutions.Rule of Law, Witchcraft, France, Institutions, Fiscal Capacity, Legal Capacity

Characteristics of Diffuse X-Ray Line Emission within 20 pc of the Galactic Center

Over the last 3 yrs, the Galactic center (GC) region has been monitored with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. With 11 Chandra observations through 2002 June, the total effective exposure reaches ~590 ks, providing significant photon statistics on the faint, filamentary, diffuse X-ray emission. The true-color X-ray image and the equivalent width (EW) images for the detected elemental species demonstrate that the diffuse X-ray features have a broad range of spatio-spectral properties. Enhancements of the low-ionization-state, or ``neutral'' Fe line emission (E~6.4 keV) to the northeast of Sgr A* can be interpreted as fluorescence within the dense ISM resulting from irradiation by hard, external X-ray sources. They may also be explained by emission induced by the bombardments by high energy particles on the ISM, such as unresolved supernova (SN) ejecta intruding into dense ISM. The detection of molecular cloud counterparts to the 6.4 keV Fe line features indicates that these Fe line features are associated with dense GC clouds and/or active star-forming regions, which supports the X-ray reflection and/or SN ejecta origins for the Fe line emission. We detect highly ionized S and Si lines which are generally coincident with the neutral Fe line emission and the dense molecular clouds in the northeast of Sgr A*. These hot plasmas are likely produced by massive star-forming activities and/or SNRs. In contrast, we find that highly ionized He-like Fe line emission (E~6.7 keV) is primarily distributed along the plane instead of being concentrated in the northeast of Sgr A*. The implied high temperature and the alignment along the plane are consistent with the magnetic confinement model.Comment: 13 pages (ApJ emulator style) including 4 figures (2 color figs). Accepted by ApJ. For full-quality figures, contact [email protected]

Taxes, lawyers, and the decline of witch trials in France

This paper explores the rise of the fiscal state in the early modern period and its impact on legal capacity. To measure legal capacity, we establish that witchcraft trials were more likely to take place where the central state had weak legal insti- tutions. Combining data on the geographic distribution of witchcraft trials with unique panel data on tax receipts across 21 French regions, we find that the rise of the tax state can account for much of the decline in witch trials during this period. Further historical evidence supports our hypothesis that higher taxes led to better legal institutions

The Law and Economics of Private Prosecutions in Industrial Revolution England

Can the market provide law enforcement? This paper addresses this question by examining an historical case-study: the system of private prosecutions that prevailed in England prior to the introduction of the police. Using a model of the market for crime, I examine why this system came under strain during the Industrial Revolution, and how private associations were able to emerge to internalize the externalities that caused the private system to generate too little deterrence. The model and historical evidence suggest that these private order institutions were partially successful in meliorating the problem of crime in a period when Public Choice considerations precluded the introduction of a professional police force

Jewish Persecutions and Weather Shocks: 1100–1800

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137319/1/ecoj12331_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137319/2/ecoj12331-sup-0001-AppendixA-D.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137319/3/ecoj12331.pd

What is the Accretion Rate in Sgr A*?

The radio source Sgr A* at the center of our Galaxy is believed to be a 2.6 x 10^6 solar mass black hole which accretes gas from the winds of nearby stars. We show that limits on the X-ray and infrared emission from the Galactic Center provide an upper limit of ~ 8 x 10^{-5} solar masses per year on the mass accretion rate in Sgr A*. The advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) model favors a rate < 10^{-5} solar masses per year. In comparison, the Bondi accretion rate onto Sgr A*, estimated using the observed spatial distribution of mass losing stars and assuming non-interacting stellar winds, is ~ 3 x 10^{-5} solar masses per year. There is thus rough agreement between the Bondi, the ADAF, and the X-ray inferred accretion rates for Sgr A*. We discuss uncertainties in these estimates, emphasizing the importance of upcoming observations by the Chandra X-ray observatory (CXO) for tightening the X-ray derived limits.Comment: to appear in ApJ Letter

Suzaku Observations of the Galactic Center Microquasar 1E 1740.7-2942

We present two Suzaku observations of the Galactic center microquasar 1E 1740.7-2942 separated by approximately 700 days. The source was observed on both occasions after a transition to the spectrally hard state. Significant emission from 1E 1740.7-2942 is detected out to an energy of 300 keV, with no spectral break or turnover evident in the data. We tentatively measure a lower limit to the cut-off energy of ~ 380 keV. The spectra are found to be consistent with a Comptonized corona on both occasions, where the high energy emission is consistent with a hard power-law (\Gamma ~ 1.8) with a significant contribution from an accretion disc with a temperature of ~ 0.4 keV at soft X-ray energies. The measured value for the inner radius of the accretion disc is found to be inconsistent with the picture whereby the disc is truncated at large radii in the low-hard state and instead favours a radius close to the ISCO (R_in ~ 10 - 20 R_g).Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, formatted using emulateapj.cls. Accepted for publication in Ap

Plague, Politics, and Pogroms: The Black Death, Rule of Law, and the persecution of Jews in the Holy Roman Empire

This paper explores the institutional determinants of persecution by studying the intensity of the Black Death pogroms in the Holy Roman Empire. Political fragmentation exacerbated competition for the rents generated by Jewish moneylending. This competition made Jewish communities vulnerable during periods of crisis. We test this hypothesis using data on the intensity of pogroms. In line with our model, we find that communities governed by Archbishoprics, Bishoprics, and Imperial Free Cities experienced more intense and violent persecutions than did those governed by the emperor or by secular princes. We discuss the implications that this has for the enforcement of the rule of law in weak states