Elinor Ostrom Wins 2009 Nobel Prize for Economics

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences named political scientist Elinor Ostrom (Indiana University) winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics for "her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons."

According to the Academy, "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."

Professor Ostrom is the first woman to win the Nobel Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences since it was founded in 1968. Dr. Ostrom served as president of the American Political Science Association in 1996-97 (View her presidential address).

Dr. Ostrom shares the prize with co-winner with Dr. Oliver Williamson (UC-Berkeley).

More on the Nobel Prize: http://nobelprize.org