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Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson of the United States have won the 2009 Nobel Economics Prize for their work on the organisation of cooperation in economic governance.
Elinor Ostrom is the first female Laureate in Economic Sciences.
Ostrom won the Nobel for "her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons". Elinor Ostrom has demonstrated how common property can be successfully managed by user associations.
She is the Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science, and co-director of the workshop in political theory and policy analysis at Indiana University Bloomington. In addition, she is the founding director of the Center for the Study of Institutional Diversity at Arizona State University.
Oliver Williamson has developed a theory where business firms serve as structures for conflict resolution. He is currently the Edgar F. Kaiser Professor Emeritus at the Haas School of Business.
Over the last three decades these seminal contributions have advanced economic governance research from the fringe to the forefront of scientific attention, the announcement from the Nobel Committee said.
Economic transactions take place not only in markets, but also within firms, associations, households, and agencies. Whereas economic theory has comprehensively illuminated the virtues and limitations of markets, it has traditionally paid less attention to other institutional arrangements.
The research of Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson demonstrates that economic analysis can shed light on most forms of social organization.
A total of 64 individuals have been awarded the Economics Nobel since 1969.