Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization Vol. 57 (2005) 227–230 In pursuit of better policy outcomes Clark C. Gibson * Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0521, USA Received 30 January 2004; received in revised form 1 May 2004; accepted 7 June 2004 Available online 20 February 2005 Abstract The underlying motivation for the work of Elinor and Vincent Ostrom is to promote decision making that leads to better policy outcomes. They have pursued this goal by focusing on how individuals make choices, and on how humanly created institutions constrain choice. Their approach, and their use of an amazingly wide array of theories, methods, and cases, has made a significant impact on our understanding of human behavior and policy outcomes. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classification: D7; B3 Keywords: Elinor and Vincent Ostrom; Policy outcomes; Human behavior; Institutions I applaud Professor Dietz’s efforts to convey some of the most important parts of the Ostroms’ distinguished work. This is no easy task. Both Vincent and Lin have focused on dozens of important questions, applied nearly all the methods used in the social sciences, and have addressed the topics with evidence gleaned the world over. Although Professor Dietz hopes that someone will write a more authoritative paper about the Ostroms’ role in the intellectual development in the study of the commons, he has done an excellent job at linking what appear as quite disparate themes in the Ostrom oeuvre. Professor Dietz employs the example of Darwin to explore many of the Ostroms’ con- tributions. First, like Darwin, the Ostroms have a view of evolution that has at its core a transmission of information. Second, like Darwin, the Ostroms have committed themselves * Tel.: +1 858 822 5140; fax: +1 858 534 7130. E-mail address: ccgibson@ucsd.edu. 0167-2681/$ – see front matter © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2004.06.019