The GKC framework, first published in 2010, underlies the entire GKC research project. The GKC borrows stylistically from Elinor Ostrom‘s IAD (Institutional Analysis and Development) framework and aligns with Ostrom’s interest in comparative institutional analysis. But GKC-based research stands on its own conceptual and methodological foundations; it is not simply “IAD, or Ostrom’s Governing the Commons, but for knowledge and information.” Among other things, the GKC framework steers researchers and research away from “tragic commons” framings that tend to dominate analysis of material resource commons and toward a broad and pluralistic understanding of the social dilemmas framed by shared intangible resources.
Knowledge, information, and data governance pose opportunities and social dilemmas that are not always evident in the world of biophysical resources. Knowledge resources may not be Common Pool Resources as Ostrom developed that concept. A “tragedy of the commons” may not be the key threat to productive development or distribution of knowledge. Ostrom’s “design principles” for managing a commons are neither natural starting points nor natural conclusions with respect to shared knowledge resources.
Given GKC’s pluralistic starting points, the scope of GKC research is as broad as knowledge commons themselves. “Knowledge commons” are not (only) modest exceptions or modes of collective resistance to dominant property paradigms; they are not (only) sustainable in small groups. The GKC program treats knowledge commons as posing fundamentally empirical questions: How are knowledge, information, and other shared intellectual resources governed? What resources matter? What challenges and opportunities do they present? How do knowledge commons governance institutions begin? Thrive? Change? Fail? What roles do formal legal systems play in reinforcing or undermining knowledge commons governance? What are the strengths and weaknesses of informal norms in advancing knowledge commons governance? What are the roles of the state and of technology in defining conditions under which knowledge commons might flourish – or not?
Elinor Ostrom was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009 for her record in institutional economics. Among other things, she demonstrated convincingly and empirically that the so-called “tragedy of the commons” was neither a normal nor natural result of sharing resources. Commons, as a form of collective action, could provide a sustainable and successful alternative to governing resources as private property. We take Ostrom in part as an inspiration and in part as a starting point, rather than as a source of GKC’s presumptive scope.
- A brief description of GKC research is available here
- A more elaborate description is available here
- Case studies and journal articles applying the GKC framework are available here
Last updated: June 2026
