The 2009 Nobel Prize Committee loves women and the American President
Onka Dekker
Issue date: 10/30/09 Section: World
Between Oct. 5 and Oct. 12, Nobel Prize Committee members in Oslo and Stockholm placed calls around the world to 13 people. Many of them were still asleep when the call came. They woke to a voice telling them that they were one of those, "who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind."
The award for each of six Nobel Prize categories totals $1.4 million. Eleven of the 13 winners are American citizens.
On campus, the choice of a woman political scientist for the economics prize received as much attention as the surprise award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama.
Indiana University professor Elinor Ostrom and UC-Berkeley professor Oliver Eaton Williamson will share the prize for their separate research on economic governance.
In the political science department, Assistant Professor Maria Rosales said she has heard from colleagues around the country celebrating Elinor Ostrom's Nobel award.
"They are thrilled," Rosales said. "Her win is considered a win for political science. Ostrom's work is detailed, careful and very grounded."
Ostrom's research offers an alternative to the economic theory known as "the tragedy of the commons." That theory holds that private ownership or government regulation are needed to stop people from depleting natural resources like forests or grazing land.
The theory assumes that environmental tragedies are inevitable, because people will always choose immediate gain for themselves without thinking of the long-term effects on others.
Ostrom and her political science students looked at actual behavior around the world and found many groups succeeding at sustainable management of natural resources.
The Nobel committee points out that Ostrom has shown "the argument against common property is overly simplistic. It neglects the fact that users themselves can both create and enforce rules that mitigate overexploitation."
She and her students have documented communities that successfully use and preserve other natural resources from the Maine lobster fisheries to irrigation systems in Nepal.
The award for each of six Nobel Prize categories totals $1.4 million. Eleven of the 13 winners are American citizens.
On campus, the choice of a woman political scientist for the economics prize received as much attention as the surprise award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama.
Indiana University professor Elinor Ostrom and UC-Berkeley professor Oliver Eaton Williamson will share the prize for their separate research on economic governance.
In the political science department, Assistant Professor Maria Rosales said she has heard from colleagues around the country celebrating Elinor Ostrom's Nobel award.
"They are thrilled," Rosales said. "Her win is considered a win for political science. Ostrom's work is detailed, careful and very grounded."
Ostrom's research offers an alternative to the economic theory known as "the tragedy of the commons." That theory holds that private ownership or government regulation are needed to stop people from depleting natural resources like forests or grazing land.
The theory assumes that environmental tragedies are inevitable, because people will always choose immediate gain for themselves without thinking of the long-term effects on others.
Ostrom and her political science students looked at actual behavior around the world and found many groups succeeding at sustainable management of natural resources.
The Nobel committee points out that Ostrom has shown "the argument against common property is overly simplistic. It neglects the fact that users themselves can both create and enforce rules that mitigate overexploitation."
She and her students have documented communities that successfully use and preserve other natural resources from the Maine lobster fisheries to irrigation systems in Nepal.
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