The Great Commons in the Sky

Sad news: Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Economics, died yesterday morning at Indiana University's Health Bloomington Hospital.  As the Nobel Committee stated:

Elinor Ostrom has challenged the conventional wisdom that common property is poorly managed and should be either regulated by central authorities or privatized. Based on numerous studies of user-managed fish stocks, pastures, woods, lakes, and groundwater basins, Ostrom concludes that the outcomes are, more often than not, better than predicted by standard theories. She observes that resource users frequently develop sophisticated mechanisms for decision-making and rule enforcement to handle conflicts of interest, and she characterizes the rules that promote successful outcomes.

Here's NPR's story:

NPR Ostrom Remembrance

 

And here's a link to a brief lecture by Ostrom were she explains her work.

Steve Clowney