Americans Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson were awarded the 2009 Sveriges Riksbank Prizein Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel this morning for their work on “economic governance” in the commons and the firm, respectively. Their work is important insofar as it pioneered analysis of economic governance and institutional arrangements outside of competitive market settings. Also of note, Ostrom is the first woman to receive the prize. WSJ coverage is here. Congratulations to both.
UPDATE: More from Alex Tabarrok.