Feb 23, 2011

State, Private or Commons and The Public Choice Theory

By Derek Wall / gonzotimes.com
State, Private or Commons and The Public Choice Theory

When Professor Elinor Ostrom became the first women to win a Nobel Prize for economics in 2009, or to be precise, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences that she shared with Richard Williamson, most economists probably sighed with surprise and said something along the lines of ‘Elinor who?’ Ostrom was not at the time well known amongst mainstream economists. Indeed, strictly speaking she is not even an economists but works in a politics faculty.

Normally, economics argue that there are two forms of property: private and state. Economies are mixed - i.e some activities such as policing are largely controlled by the state, while most others are provided by the market. Ostrom argues that a third form of property is also significant - neither privately owned nor state controlled - that of common ownership. When common ownership is added to the equation, economic activity is not merely split between the alternatives of market and state but can be regulated by collective social activity.

Ostrom can be seen as the economist or political economist best placed to conceptualize the explosion in web based activity and social media. The accelerating growth of the world wide web, peer to peer production and Wikipedia have been investigated by economists, but forcing them into the pre-existing categories of market and state is far from satisfactory. Ostrom uses the term Common Pool Resources (CPR) to categorize such forms of property.

Ostrom’s practical research looks at how common pool property systems that work or sometimes failed to work in maintaining key ecosystems including marine fisheries, forests and grazing land. 

Ostrom challenges the notion of the tragedy of the commons. Although the commons can fail, she says, we should not assume that it will always do so. Neither is ‘commons’ an absence of property rights but often is based on carefully constructed rules for management of a resource.

Ostrom shows that people can construct rules that allow them to exploit the environment without destroying it. In a world where ecological realities increasingly threaten material prosperity her work provides a way of thinking about how humanity can create truly sustainable development, living within limits while meeting human needs. The implications of Ostrom’s work are vast. Conventional economists have not directly focused on environmental issues, at best ignoring notions of environmental limits and arguing that ecological problems can simply be costed and such negative externalities internalised(?).

Despite coming from a Hayekian background based in the discipline of Public Choice Theory, Ostrom’s key theoretical interest in ‘commons’ was also one of Karl Marx’s enduring concerns. While she has never used the label she also can be understood as a feminist thinker. Her most obvious enthusiasm is for the rights of indigenous peoples and respect for the environment, especially policies for tackling climate change. However she is critical of the very notion of policy if it is imposed from above. She distances herself from socialism if it is statist but endorses collectivist solutions to economic problems. Ostrom, who once described herself ‘as a stubborn son of a gun,’ is a thinker who it is almost impossible to pigeonhole with existing categories in economics and political philosophy.

Economics
Rate this article 
Economics
Fossil Fuels, Renewables, and the Coming Energy Transition
Anti-Racism is a Big Movement: Here are Some of the Conversations & Ideas That You May Have Missed
Trending Videos
Louis Theroux: The Settlers (2025)
62 min - Fourteen years after his first visit and 2011 film The Ultra Zionists, Louis Theroux meets some of the growing community of religious-nationalist Israelis who have settled in the West Bank.Louis...
acTVism Munich Video Series
272 min - This video playlist compiles all of acTVism Munich's work that include a wide range of topics - privacy, democracy, economy, politics and social issues.
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (2011)
174 min - Adam Curtis directs this 3-part series about how humans have been colonised by the machines we have built.The series begins by unraveling the surprising influence of Ayn Rand's objectivist...
Project 2025 Explained in Schoolhouse Rock Style!
5 min - The song that could save America. Share widely.Written, animated and performed by Jason KravitsProduced and mixed by Sean Dixon withJason Kravits, Christopher Walz, and Brian ONeill
Planet Community: A 5-Part Series Exploring Cooperation in Action (2019)
50 min - What happens when people work together to create solutions to the social, economic, and ecological issues we face today? Planet Communityis an exploration of intentional communities that are...
Planet Local Voices Series: 33 Voices United by a Vision of Ecological Economies, Healthy Communities and Local Food Systems
445 min - Planet Local Voices is video and podcast series featuring cutting-edge thinkers, writers, movement-builders and activists from across the world, united by a planet local vision of ecological...
Guides
Documentaries by One of Our Heroes, John Pilger (Rest in Peace)
Subscribe for $5/mo to Watch over 50 Patron-Exclusive Films
Subscribe $5/mo View All Patron Films

 

Your support keeps us ad-free and financially independent

Our 10,000+ video & article library is 99% free, ad-free, and entirely community-funded thanks to our patron subscribers!


Want to double your impact? You can subscribe for $10/mo or more as an extra show of support.