"Collective Action & The Commons"

*Update: Dr. Elinor Ostrom became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in economics on October 12th, 2009, just four months after speaking at the Frankfurt School on the same topic in which she was awarded the prize.

Renowned political scientist, Dr. Elinor Ostrom, from Indiana University - Bloomington, gave a lecture on Friday June 19th, 2009, outlining her latest research and outcomes regarding the problem of "the commons."

In the lab, she had simulated conflicts concerning the allocation of the commons and had derived a complex theoretical framework that exploits the various elements (e.g. leadership, trust and reciprocity) of this process.

Her framework had been applied in a number of field studies by Professor Ostrom and her team, among others in a study of three villages in the Gulf of California (Mexico), where people rely on fishing. She presented her study and outlined how different forms of managing and allocating the resource „fish lead to different levels of prosperity. Ultimately, the findings of the field study confirmed her framework.

More information on the Nobel Prize award can be found here: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9B9KKA00&show_article=1

Category:

Education

Tags:

• economics
• Nobel Prize
• Dr Elinor Ostrom
• Frankfurt School
• Germany
• business
• collective action
• the commons
• governance