Information about the Scientific Project (Master program) in the summer semester 2023
The scientific project deals with the government of common-pool resources. These are resources to which more than one individual has access, but where each individual’s consumption reduces the availability of the resource to others (like fish stocks, pastures, woods, and groundwater basins). According to conventional wisdom, common-pool resources should be completely privatized or regulated by central authorities. In many cases self-government proved to be successful, however. The scientific project will highlight the conditions under which self-governance is appropriate. The research discussed here goes back to the economist Elinor Ostrom, who in 2009 was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel "for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons".
The scientific project consists of two parts. In part 1, chapters from the book by Elinor Ostrom “Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action.” Cambridge University Press, 1990, will be presented and discussed by participants. In part 2, each participant writes a paper and gives a presentation on the self-governance of a specific common-pool resource. The topics of the individual projects will be worked out in the course of the seminar.