THINK WITH ZUNEFrom thought to judgment.
From judgment to practice.

ELINOR OSTROM

She studies how people actually govern shared resources, moving beyond a simple market-versus-state choice to identify conditions for polycentric institutions, self-governance, and durable cooperation.

1933–2012Institutional economics · Political economy · Public choiceUnited States
Other names and spellings

엘리너 오스트롬 · 엘리노어 오스트롬 · Elinor Claire Ostrom

Core ideas

COMMON-POOL RESOURCESPOLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCESELF-GOVERNANCEINSTITUTIONAL DESIGNSOCIAL DILEMMAS

Works & sources

Beyond Markets and States, Nobel Prize Lecture (2009)

ELINOR OSTROM, a first reading

Ostrom studied how people govern shared resources in practice.

Governing the commons: what does it mean?

Shared resources need not be governed only by markets or central authorities. Users can sustain cooperation through suitable rules, monitoring, and ways of resolving disputes; success is conditional, not automatic.

Explore the thinker and concept ↗

Related reflections

  1. 01Good institutions bring out the best in people