Elinor Ostrom

Faleceu ontem Elinor Ostrom, Nobel em Economia em 2009. Sua grande contribuição foi mostrar que arranjos alternativos a mercados e governos para resolver o problema da "tragédia dos comuns" são possíveis e desejáveis. Tais arranjos dizem respeito a auto-organização de grupos com o estabelecimento de regras de acesso. Como ela mesmo explica em Governing the Commons:

"The term “common-pool resource” refers to a natural or man-made resource system that is sufficiently large as to make it costly (but not impossible) to exclude potential beneficiaries from obtaining benefits from its use. 

Instead of presuming that the individuals sharing a commons are inevitably caught in a trap from which they cannot escape, I argue that the capacity of individuals to extricate themselves from various types of dilemma situations varies from situation to situation. The cases to be discussed in this book illustrate both successful and unsuccessful efforts to escape tragic outcomes. 

Institutions are rarely either private or public -- "the market" or "the state." Many successful CPR intitutions are rich mixtures of "private-like" and "public-like" institutions defying classification in a sterile dichotomy. By "successful," I mean institutions that enable individuals to achieve productive outcomes in situations where temptations to free-ride and shirk are ever present. A competitive market -- the epitome of private institutions -- is itself a public good."

Para conhecer melhor o trabalho de Elinor Ostrom,  recomendo os seguintes links: Paul Romer, Vernon Smith e Alex Tabarrok.

P.S. O site da Indiana University em sua homenagem é referência obrigatória.