Journal of Economic Literature
ISSN 0022-0515 (Print) | ISSN 2328-8175 (Online)
The Limits of the Commune: A Review of The Mystery of the Kibbutz
Journal of Economic Literature
vol. 58,
no. 2, June 2020
(pp. 488–97)
Abstract
Ran Abramitzky's book, The Mystery of the Kibbutz: Egalitarian Principles in a Capitalist World, tries to answer the questions of why the communal kibbutz worked so well in Israel's formative years and what limits its current success in modern Israel. Initial ideological commitment and the special circumstances of Israel's founding led to unusual success when combined with well-thought-out rules on behavior and entry. Over time, the commitment to socialistic income sharing has not worked so well, given modern technology and global commerce. The author links up these ideas to the broader issue of organizational structure but misses out on some opportunities to test the ideas further.Citation
Nye, John V C. 2020. "The Limits of the Commune: A Review of The Mystery of the Kibbutz." Journal of Economic Literature, 58 (2): 488–97. DOI: 10.1257/jel.20191523JEL Classification
- D31 Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
- D63 Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
- D82 Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- P13 Cooperative Enterprises
- Q13 Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness