Political science professor Elinor Ostrom showed that common-pool resources, such as water supplies or fish, can be effectively managed collectively without government or private control.

The economic theory of expected utility maximization says that people will act out of rational self-interest. But psychologist Daniel Kahneman showed that it is incorrect.

• In 1994 Nash, Selten and Harsanyi became Economics Nobel Laureates for their contributions to economic game theory.
• Non-cooperative games are those where participants make non-binding agreements. They base their decisions on how they think the other participants will behav...

This is a key concept in modern financial theory used for valuing European options and employee stock options.

• James M. Buchanan's work within Public Choice earned him the Nobel Prize in Economic Science in 1986.
• This theory shows that contrary to the conventional wisdom that public-sector actors act in the public's best interests, politicians and bureaucrats tend to act in self-int...