THE ELINOR & VINCENT OSTROM PRIZE

$1,000 For Best Graduate Student Paper & Presentation at the Annual Meetings of The Public Choice Society, the Elinor and Vincent Ostrom Prize is awarded to a graduate student each year for the best-combined paper & presentation at the Annual Meetings of the Public Choice Society. Elinor and Vincent Ostrom both served as Presidents of the Society. The naming of this Award recognizes their ceaseless dedication to working with graduate students to improve both their writing and presentation skills.

Selection Procedures:
The Prize is selected according to a two-stage procedure. First, eligible papers are ranked by a selection committee composed of PCS Executive Committee members and senior members of the Society. The top three papers advance as finalists to the second stage, in which finalists present their papers and benefit from having accomplished and distinguished scholars assigned as discussants. The presentations are evaluated by a prize committee composed of the Society President, the Society Executive Director, the paper selection committee, and discussants.

The Prizewinner is announced and recognized during the conference at the Saturday Awards Luncheon. An award letter, commemorative plaque, and honorarium will be sent by mail after the conference. A press release will be disseminated to media outlets, academic journals affiliated with the Society, and to the winner’s university.

Eligibility:
To be eligible, candidates must meet three requirements. First, candidates must have their paper proposals accepted onto the conference program according to the Call for Papers procedures. Second, candidates must upload their papers to the conference website by the deadline listed on the Call for Papers page. Papers not uploaded by the deadline will indicate the choice to opt out of the contest. Finally, candidates must be graduate students in good standing at the time of the Annual Meetings. Note: papers co-authored with non-students are not eligible; however, papers co-authored only by students are eligible and are most encouraged to apply.

Previous Winners

2024 Winner	Benjamin Broman, Ph.D. Student in Political Economy and Political Institutions, Duke University, “Counterproductive cooptation? Religion, institutional change, and resistance in the Scottish Highland Clearances”
2023 Winner	Tegan Truitt, Ph.D. Student in Economics, George Mason University, “Singapore: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the State”
2023 Finalists	Ugurcan Evci, Ph.D. Student in Political Science, University of California at Irvine, “The Toss of a Coin: Electoral Policymaking in Turkey from 1980 to 2018” Francisco Alberto Castellanos Sosa, Ph.D. Student in Public Policy, University of Texas at Austin, “Immigration and Income Inequality in the United States”
2022 Winner	Jessie Bullock, Harvard University, “Machine Gun Politics: Why Politicians Cooperate with Criminal Groups”
2022 Finalists	Valentin Lindlacher, ifo Institute Munich, “No Surprises, Please: Voting Costs and Electoral Turnout” Henry Thompson, George Mason University, “Cosa Nostra Courts”
2021 Winner	Regrettably, the 2021 Prize competition was canceled.
2020 Winner	Mark Hup, University of California – Irvine, “Corvée Labor and State Expansion in Colonial Indonesia”
2020 Finalists	Daniel Gibbs, Ph.D. student in politics at Princeton University Bruno Baranek and Vitezslav Titl, Ph.D. students in political economy at Kings College London
2019 Winner	Anna Gunderson, Emory University, “Why Do States Privatize their Prisons? The Unintended Consequences of Inmate Litigation”
2019 Finalists	Steven Johnson, Clemson University, “The Effect of State-Level Welfare Policy on Disability Acceptance Rates“ Kaetana Leontjeva, King’s College London, The Fiscal Truth: Personal Fiscal Information Curbs Enthusiasm for Tax and Spend
2018 Winner	James Strickland, Ph.D. Student in Political Science at University of Michigan, “The Contingent Value of Relationships: Revolving-Door Lobbyists in the U.S. States”
2018 Finalists	Perry Ferrell, Ph.D. Student in Economics, West Virginia University, “Titles for Me But Not for Thee: Transitional Gains Trap of Property Rights Extension in Colombia” Jahen Rezki, Ph.D. Student in Economics, University of York, “Political Competition and Local Government Performance: Evidence from Indonesia”
2017 Winner	Dodge Cahan (Ph.D. student in economics at University of California San Diego): “Electoral cycles in government employment: Evidence from US gubernatorial elections”
2017 Finalists	Rosolino Candela (Ph.D. student in economics at George Mason University): “The Political Economy of Italian Unification in Sicily: Insecurity of Property Rights and the Role of Land Reform” Charles Delmotte, (Ph.D. student in legal and political philosophy, Ghent University): “The Political Economics of Tax Exemptions: Tax Uniformity as a Constitutional Principle”
2016 Winner	Pierre Mandon (Ph.D. student in Economics at CERGI, University of Auvergne): “Political budget cycles: Manipulation of leaders or bias from research?” co-authored with Antoine Cazals
2016 Finalists	Helena Helfer (Ph.D. student in Economics at University of Münster): “Prosperity-enhancing Institutions: Towards a Comprehensive Composite Index” Eric Hammer (Ph.D. student in Economics at George Mason University): “Endowment Effects in Evolutionary Game Theory: Enhancing Property Rights”
2015 Winner	Caitlin Ainsley (Ph.D. student in Political Science at Emory University): “Does Central Bank Independence Improve Monetary Policymaking?”
2015 Finalists	Conor Lennon (Ph.D. student in Economics at University of Pittsburgh): “The Individual-Specific Incidence of Mandated Benefits: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act” Vlad Tarko and Kyle O’Donnell (Ph.D. students in Economics at George Mason University): “Escape from Europe: A Calculus of Consent Model of the Origins of Democracy in North America”