MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - Americans Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson have jointly won the 2009 Nobel prize for economics, the Nobel Committee announced Monday.

Ostrom, a professor of political science at Indiana University, is the first woman to win the prize in its 40-year history.

She and Williamson, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, were awarded the prize for their research on economic governance.

Ostrom's work shows that "local communities often manage common resources better on their own than when outside authorities impose rules," the committee said.

Williamson was chosen for his analysis of "economic governance, especially the boundaries of the firm."