北京时间10月12日，瑞典皇家科学院公布，美国经济学家艾利诺•奥斯特罗姆和奥利弗•E•威廉姆森获得2009年诺贝尔经济学奖，以表彰他们对经济管理行为的卓越分析，尤其是奥斯特罗姆对公共经济管理行为的贡献和威廉姆森对企业边界经济管理的分析。这是今年最后揭幕的诺贝尔奖，而艾利诺•奥斯特罗姆也成为诺贝尔经济学奖自1968年诞生以来产生的首位女性得主。诺贝尔经济学奖并非诺贝尔遗嘱中提到的五大奖励领域之一，是由瑞典银行在1968年为纪念诺贝尔而增设，全称应为“纪念阿尔弗雷德•诺贝尔瑞典银行经济学奖”，通常称为诺贝尔经济学奖，也称瑞典银行经济学奖。

Elinor Ostrom has become the first woman to win the Nobel prize for economics since it began in 1968.

Elinor Ostrom has become the first woman to win the Nobel prize for economics since it began in 1968.

Ms Ostrom won the prize with fellow American Oliver Williamson for their separate work in economic governance.

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is the last of the six Nobel prizes announced this year. Since 1980, it has gone to Americans 24 times.

Last Friday, US President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize - though this aroused some controversy¹.

'Great surprise'

The economics prize was not among the original Nobel awards, but was created in 1968 by the Swedish central bank in Alfred Nobel's memory.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences cited Professor Ostrom, who teaches at Indiana University, "for her analysis of economic governance," saying her work had demonstrated how common property could be successfully managed by groups using it.

She told Swedish television that she was "in shock" at being the first woman to clinch² the award, adding winning had been a "great surprise".

Meanwhile, Professor Williamson, the academy said, developed a theory where business firms served as structures for conflict resolution.

The University of California, Berkeley academic has argued that hierarchical organisations such as companies represent alternative governance structures, which differ in their approaches to resolving conflicts of interest.

"Over the last three decades, these seminal³ contributions have advanced economic governance research from the fringe to the forefront of scientific attention," the academy said.

The pair will share the 10-million Swedish kronor (£910,000; $1.44m) prize.

Last year, American academic Paul Krugman won the prize, in recognition of his analysis of trade patterns and where economic activity takes place.

NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS 2009

Peace: Barack Obama

Physics: Charles K Kao, Willard S Boyle and George E Smith

Chemistry: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A Steitz and Ada E Yonath

Physiology⁴ or Medicine: Elizabeth H Blackburn, Carol W Greider and Jack⁵ W. Szostak

Literature: Herta Muller

Economics: Elinor Ostrom and Oliver E Williamson