Ostrom

Ostrom is a surname of Scandinavian origin. It is associated with scholars in political science and economics, most notably Elinor Ostrom and Vincent Ostrom, who shaped contemporary thinking on governance and public institutions.

Elinor Ostrom (1933–2012) was an American political economist whose work on the governance of common-pool resources challenged the idea that such resources inevitably succumb to the tragedy of the commons. Her research demonstrated that communities and multiple overlapping authorities could design sustainable and scalable rules for resource use. In 2009 she shared the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences with Oliver E. Williamson for her analysis of economic governance, particularly the mechanisms that enable cooperation in resource management. Ostrom authored or co-authored influential works such as Governing the Commons, which outlined design principles for successful self-organization, and she developed the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework to study institutional performance across contexts.

Vincent Ostrom (1919–2011) was an American political scientist and a key figure in the Bloomington School of political economy and public administration. With Elinor Ostrom, he helped advance the IAD framework and the concept of polycentric governance, which emphasizes multiple overlapping centers of decision-making. They founded the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University, promoting interdisciplinary research on governance, policy analysis, and public choice.

Together, the Ostroms’ work has influenced theories of local governance, resource management, and public administration, highlighting how institutions—formal and informal—shape collective action and policy outcomes.