The Economics Nobel prizes social capital
The Nobel Prize in Economics has been awarded to the Americans Elinor Ostrom, the first woman awarded, and Oliver Williamson for their work on economic governance, the Nobel committee announced on Monday. Elinor Ostrom, from Indiana University (center), demonstrated how co-ownerships can be effectively managed by user associations, specifies the committee. Elinor Ostrom, born in 1933, is the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. Officially named the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Prize in Economics is the only one not to have been included in the will of the Swedish industrialist and philanthropist. Awarded since 1969 and financed by the Swedish central bank, it nevertheless functions exactly like the other prizes with a committee and an endowment of 10 million crowns (970,000 euros) to be shared between the winners (Le Soir, Monday October 12, 2009).
It is gratifying that Elinor Ostrom won the Nobel Prize in Economics. Indeed, he is a fine researcher in the field of social capital, whose work includes numerous works on social capital, citizen participation, civic engagement and self-regulation, the role of values in the economy, collective management of resources, trust and reciprocity. Below are the references to some of his works directly or indirectly related to the issue of social capital:
– Foundations of Social Capital, edited with TK Ahn (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2003).
– Trust and Reciprocity: Interdisciplinary Lessons from Experimental Research, edited with James Walker (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2003).
– Competition & Cooperation: Conversations with Nobelists about Economics and Political Science, edited with James Alt and Margaret Levi. (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1999).
– Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990).
– “The Meaning of Social Capital and Its Link to Collective Action” (with TK Ahn). In Handbook of Social Capital: The Troika of Sociology, Political Science and Economics, ed. Gert T. Svendsen and Gunnar L. Svendsen, 17–35. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2009.
– “Trust in Private and Common Property Experiments” (with James Cox, James Walker, Antonio Jamie Castillo, Eric Coleman, Robert Holahan, Michael Schoon, and Brian Steed). Southern Economic Journal 75(4) (April 2009): 957–75.
– “Gemeingütermanagement—eine Perspektive für bürgerschaftliches Engagement” [Governing a Commons from a Citizen’s Perspective]. In Wem gehört die Welt? Zur Wiederentdeckung der Gemeingüter, ed. Silke Helfrich, 218–228. München: Oekom Verlag, 2009.
– “What is Social Capital?” In Social Capital: Reaching Out, Reaching In, ed. Viva Bartkus and James Davis, 17–38. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2009.
– “Social Capital and Collective Action” (with TK Ahn). In The Handbook of Social Capital, ed. Dario Castiglione, Jan van Deth, and Guglielmo Wolleb, 70–100. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
– “The Vital Role of Norms and Rules in Maintaining Open Public and Private Economies” (with David Schwab). In Moral Markets: The Critical Role of Values in the Economy, ed. Paul J. Zak, 204–227. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008.
– “A Frequently Overlooked Precondition of Democracy: Citizens Knowledgeable About and Engaged in Collective Action.” In Preconditions of Democracy, The Tampere Club Series, vol. 2, ed. Geoffrey Brennan, 75–89. Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press, 2006.
– “Signals, Symbols, and Human Cooperation” (with TK Ahn and Marco Janssen). In The Origins and Nature of Sociality, ed. Robert W. Sussman and Audrey R. Chapman, 122-139. New York: Aldine De Gruyter, 2003.
– “Heterogeneous Preferences and Collective Action” (with TK Ahn and James Walker). Public Choice 117 (3-4) (December 2003): 295-314.
– “How Types of Goods and Property Rights Jointly Affect Collective Action.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 15(3) (July 2003): 239-270.
– “Introduction” (with TK Ahn). In Foundations of Social Capital, ed. Elinor Ostrom and TK Ahn, xi-xxxix. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2003.
– “A Social Science Perspective on Social Capital: Social Capital and Collective Action” (with TK Ahn). In Social Capital: Conceptual Explorations, Elinor Ostrom and TK Ahn, Alessandro Pizzorno, and Mark E. Warren, 8-56. Rusel Papers Civic Series no. 1/2002. Exeter, UK: University of Exeter, 2002.
– “Vulnerability and Polycentric Governance Systems.” IHDP (International Human Dimensions Program on Global Environmental Change) Newsletter UPDATE no. 3 (2001): 1, 3-4.
– “Social Dilemmas and Human Behavior.” In Economics in Nature: Social Dilemmas, Mate Choice and Biological Markets, ed. Ronald Noë, Jan ARAM Van Hooff, and Peter Hammerstein, 21-41. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
– “Social Capital: A Fad or a Fundamental Concept?” In Social Capital: A Multifaceted Perspective, ed. Partha Dasgupta and Ismail Seraeldin, 172-214. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 1999.
– “Reciprocity, Trust, and the Sense of Control: A Cross-Societal Study” (with Nahoko Hayashi, James Walker, and Toshio Yamagishi). Rationality and Society 11(1) (February 1999): 27-46.
– “Self-Organization and Social Capital.” Industrial and Corporate Change 4(1) (1995): 131-59.
– “Social Capital and Cooperation: Communication, Bounded Rationality, and Behavioral Heuristics” (with Roy Gardner and – James Walker). In Social Dilemmas and Cooperation, ed. Ulrich Schulz, Wulf Albers, and Ulrich Mueller, 375-411. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1994.
– “A Communitarian Approach to Local Governance.” National Civic Review 82(3) (August 1993): 226-33.
– “Policy Analysis of Collective Action and Self-Governance.” In Advances in Policy Studies Since 1950, ed. William N. Dunn and Rita Mae Kelly, 81-119. Policy Studies Review Annual, vol. 10. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1992.
– “Covenants With and Without a Sword: Self-Governance is Possible” (with James Walker and Roy Gardner). American Political Science Review 86(2) (June 1992): 404-417.
– “Citizen Participation in Policing: What Do We Know?” Journal of Voluntary Action Research 7(1-2) (January-June 1978): 102-8.
– Wittgenstein Lectures on “Collective Action and the Commons,” University of Bayreuth, Germany, June 22-27, 2009.
