ESS 613 Institutions, Society and the Environment

Spring 2009

Professors: Marco Janssen and Amber Wutich

Course content
Institutions, rules that structure interactions between people, are studied by various disciplines including political science, economics, sociology and anthropology. The analysis of how institutions are formed, how they operate and change, and how they influence behavior in society is the focus of this course. We will discuss the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework and the application of game theory to study institutions. We will also cover experimental research and individual decision making. Students will learn to identify the diversity of institutions that we use to govern our lives, and to apply a number of analytical tools to understand the implications of different types of institutional arrangements, especially in the context of natural resource and environmental management.

Course format
Lectures, discussions, individual project

Required book

Elinor Ostrom (2005) Understanding Institutional Diversity, Princeton University Press.

List of additional readings will be provided later