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Institutional Resilience and Economic Systems: Lessons from Elinor Ostrom’s Work

Author

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  • Paul Dragos Aligica

    (George Mason University, 3351 N Fairfax Dr., Arlington, 22201, USA. E-mails: daligica@mercatus.gmu.edu; vtarko@gmu.edu)

  • Vlad Tarko

    (George Mason University, 3351 N Fairfax Dr., Arlington, 22201, USA. E-mails: daligica@mercatus.gmu.edu; vtarko@gmu.edu)

Abstract

Comparative economic systems literature deals extensively with ‘systemic functions’ and ‘performance criteria’ such as growth, efficiency and equity but rarely mentions the topic of resilience. This paper focusses on the issue of resilience while drawing several important lessons from the contributions in this respect of 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics co-recipient, Elinor Ostrom: The effects of alternative institutional arrangements and social norms as a source of both resilience and vulnerability; the problem of ‘highly optimized tolerance’ to specific sources of uncertainty; polycentricity as a possible structural solution to sustainability problems. A key point is that resilience is more than mere ‘absorptive capacity’ or ‘speed of recovery’: it depends on innovation and creative socio-cultural adaptations made possible by flexible and polycentric institutional processes. That has important implications for the ways we define and assess institutional performance and institutional design.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Dragos Aligica & Vlad Tarko, 2014. "Institutional Resilience and Economic Systems: Lessons from Elinor Ostrom’s Work," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 56(1), pages 52-76, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:compes:v:56:y:2014:i:1:p:52-76
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Ramona Țigănașu & Sorin Mazilu, 2019. "EU’s Governments Responsiveness in Inducing Efficiency and Innovation," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 189-198, December.
    3. Paul Dragos Aligica & Robert Gabriel Ciobanu, 2022. "Julian Simon, the problem of socio-ecological resilience and the “ultimate resource”: a reinterpretation," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 283-301, September.
    4. Faude, Benjamin, 2020. "International institutions in hard times: how institutional complexity increases resilience," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108663, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Alexander William Salter & Andrew T. Young, 2018. "Medieval representative assemblies: collective action and antecedents of limited government," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 171-192, June.
    6. Christopher J. Coyne & Thomas K. Duncan & Abigail R. Hall, 2021. "The political economy of state responses to infectious disease," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 87(4), pages 1119-1137, April.
    7. Alexander William Salter, 2016. "Post-Cameralist Governance: Towards a Robust Political Economy of Bureaucracy," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 294-308, October.
    8. Andrew T. Young, 2017. "How the City Air Made Us Free: The Self-Governing Medieval City and the Bourgeois Revaluation," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 32(Winter 20), pages 31-47.
    9. Vlad Tarko, 2021. "Simple rules for a more inclusive economy," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 229-249, December.
    10. Salter, Alexander William & Tarko, Vlad, 2017. "Polycentric banking and macroeconomic stability," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 365-395, June.
    11. Ma’Mun, Sitti Rahma & Loch, Adam & Young, Michael D., 2021. "Sustainable irrigation in Indonesia: A case study of Southeast Sulawesi Province," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
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    13. Alexander William Salter & Andrew T. Young, 2019. "Polycentric Sovereignty: The Medieval Constitution, Governance Quality, and the Wealth of Nations," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1241-1253, June.

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