Both laureates, Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson, have contributed to the field of organizational economics, or economics of institutions. The latter term is broader but less apt as “institutions” mean different things to different people. “Organizations” here mean non-market arrangements, mostly hierarchical structures, either in the field of politics or in the economics of production, structures in which decisions are more or less concentrated, in contrast to markets where they are decentralized.
A good description of the laureates’ contributions is presented by Michael Spence here .
Hat tip to Greg Mankiw for the reference.
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