Governing the Unmanageable – The Political Economy of Global Commons

Elinor Ostrom outlines how communities have been successful in managing local commons. On the global level, William D. Nordhaus argues that managing global commons requires global cooperation between nation states, which is at best insufficient thus far. To inform the design of mechanisms for successfully managing global commons, we need to understand the relevant actors and institutions, their capacities and constraints, as well as power structures and dynamics – at different governance levels. We also need to learn about effective national and international policies that can foster cooperation and enhance welfare, as well as the determinants of how they can become politically acceptable. 

In this workshop, we aim to make progress in addressing these topics by highlighting the importance of (1) political economy realities and barriers to transformation, (2) welfare-theoretic and empirical approaches to inclusive wealth measurement, (3) political economy approaches to international cooperation, e.g. climate cooperation, and (4) recent advances in machine learning to improve policy evaluation and identify high-impact policy interventions that enhance social welfare.

The workshop is organised within the framework of the FutureLab CERES, a research project based at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany.

Programme Overview
(for a detailed programme please click here).

About CERES

In January 2022, the FutureLab CERES: Political Economy for Inclusive Wealth Governance and Sustainability was established as a new research group at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Its key research agenda focuses on how states can contribute to a fair and sustainable management of the global commons.

Further information on CERES can be found on the PIK website.

The FutureLab CERES is funded by the Werner Siemens Foundation.