Rewarding the Care Voice in Economics

Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson won the Nobel prize for Economics. The headlines start with the remarkable fact that since 1969, when the prize was first awarded, a woman has never won. More interesting, it seems, is the nature of the work that Williamson and Ostrom were doing and its contribution to what we believe about the way people behave when it comes to commonly owned or used “stuff” and/or when resources are scarce.
After the economic meltdown, many decried the way that people, particularly men on Wall Street and in financial institutions had used the market and other people’s money for their own gain. The NY Times reported that the committee, was highlighting “the shortcomings of an unregulated marketplace, in which “economic actors,” left to their own devices, act in their own self-interests”…and the theory that “in doing so, (it) will enhance everyone’s well-being.”
What Ostrom and Williamson and people like Rosabeth Moss Kanter in her book World Class, point out is that the market can be influenced by relationships and behaviors that develop among companies that are competitors but find ways to resolve together common problems. Ostrom’s work focused on common properties like lakes, pastures, woods and ground water basins. Her observations and research found that resource users can and do create sophisticated rules to address basically, something we learned as children – how to share. Williamson, in his work, focuses on the propensity of firms (organizations) to work together when there are limited resources. (Firms are more likely to cooperate and solve problems together.)
The work of these two individuals and many others like them (for a really great read on how companies and cities have worked together to address common problems, read Kanter’s book) point to the care voice that has always been present in our world, but often gets scant attention. This voice, often socialized into girls and women, is alive and well in our marketplace; it is just that we sometimes don’t call it out as a positive force for good. Often, we trivialize the importance of working together, sharing and addressing scarce resources and believe we have to regulate sharing through interventions by governments or larger corporations. The research of these two economists, points out that sharing is not only possible, it leads to positive outcomes. We need the care voice in our world. Hurray for the Nobel Committee for calling it out!