Elinor Ostrom (Political Economist)

Elinor Ostrom was a political economist renowned for her groundbreaking work on how communities manage shared resources, such as forests, fisheries, and water supplies. Contrary to the belief that such resources inevitably lead to "tragedy of the commons," she demonstrated that with proper governance and collaboration, communities can effectively sustain these resources. Her research emphasized the importance of local knowledge and collective decision-making. Ostrom was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2009, becoming the first woman to receive this honor for her innovative contributions to understanding collective resource management and institutional economics.