Elinor Ostrom

Definition

Elinor Ostrom was a political economist who challenged the traditional view that common resources would inevitably be overexploited and destroyed, known as the 'tragedy of the commons.' She demonstrated that with the right institutional arrangements, communities can successfully manage common-pool resources without privatization or government control.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Elinor Ostrom's research demonstrated that individuals can successfully manage common-pool resources through self-governance and collective action, contrary to the 'tragedy of the commons' theory.
2. Ostrom identified eight design principles for successful common-pool resource management, including clearly defined boundaries, proportional equivalence between benefits and costs, and conflict-resolution mechanisms.
3. Ostrom's work challenged the traditional dichotomy of government regulation or privatization as the only solutions to common-pool resource management, showing that community-based approaches can also be effective.
4. Ostrom's findings were based on extensive field research and case studies of common-pool resource management systems around the world, including irrigation systems, fisheries, and forests.
5. Ostrom's work on the governance of common-pool resources earned her the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2009, the first woman to receive this prestigious award in that field.

Review Questions

• Explain how Elinor Ostrom's work challenged the traditional 'tragedy of the commons' theory.
  • Elinor Ostrom's research demonstrated that the 'tragedy of the commons' theory, which posits that individuals will inevitably overexploit shared resources for their own benefit, is not always accurate. Through extensive field studies, Ostrom showed that with the right institutional arrangements and collective action, communities can successfully manage common-pool resources without resorting to privatization or government control. Her work challenged the traditional dichotomy and offered a third way for governing common resources.
• Describe the key design principles Ostrom identified for successful common-pool resource management.
  • Elinor Ostrom identified eight design principles for the successful governance of common-pool resources, including: 1) clearly defined boundaries, 2) proportional equivalence between benefits and costs, 3) collective-choice arrangements, 4) monitoring, 5) graduated sanctions, 6) conflict-resolution mechanisms, 7) minimal recognition of rights to organize, and 8) nested enterprises. These principles outline the institutional arrangements and governance structures that enable communities to effectively manage shared resources through self-organization and collective action.
• Analyze how Elinor Ostrom's work on common-pool resource management relates to the concepts of collective dilemmas, collective action problems, and resolving collective action problems.
  • Elinor Ostrom's groundbreaking research on common-pool resource management is directly relevant to the topics of collective dilemmas, collective action problems, and resolving collective action problems. The 'tragedy of the commons' is a classic collective action problem, where individuals acting in their own self-interest deplete a shared resource. Ostrom's work showed that with the right institutional arrangements and collective action, communities can overcome this dilemma and successfully govern common-pool resources. Her design principles for common-pool resource management provide a framework for resolving collective action problems by aligning individual and group incentives, establishing monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, and fostering cooperation. Ostrom's findings challenge the traditional top-down solutions of government regulation or privatization, demonstrating the potential for community-based approaches to collective action problems.

Related terms

Tragedy of the Commons: The concept that individuals, acting independently and rationally according to their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete or destroy a shared resource, even when it is not in anyone's long-term interest for this to happen.

Common-Pool Resources: Resources that are rivalrous (one person's use diminishes another's) but non-excludable (difficult to prevent people from using), such as forests, fisheries, or groundwater.

Collective Action: The action taken by a group to achieve a common goal or address a shared problem, often requiring coordination and cooperation among the group members.