On the Same Page: Providing Theoretical Context for the Critical List of Variables for Sustaining the Commons

Elinor Ostrom pioneered common pool resource management theory. Her work was advanced by other contemporaries in the field. The result was a list of enabling variables for sustaining common pool resource systems. However, the interpretation of the qualifiers for the variables has been somewhat inconsistent among researchers, rendering meta-analysis and cross-case comparisons less robust. As the basis for CPR system theory, the importance of context for consistency becomes more significant with the pressures for effective analyses and subsequent policy— increasing with the impacts of climate change on the world’s CPR systems. This variable context must be preserved in the operationalizing process to ensure more robust comparability in data collection and, ultimately, a more effective evolution of theory. This review paper presents a reference where each variable is discussed in the context of its nascence and application in CPR theory by the researcher who flagged its importance. The goal of providing a reference for the theoretical context for the critical list of variables is to maintain the variables' theoretical integrity. The goal is to enable more informative and robust results in singular and comparative CPR analyses. Additional variables are defined and recommended for inclusion.