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Gordon, H. Scott 1924-2019

Archival location guide — where this economist’s surviving papers are held, their notable correspondents, and key published sources.

Born 1924 · died 2019

Howard Scott Gordon (1924–2019) was a Canadian economist, historian, and philosopher of social science. His seminal 1954 article The Economic Theory of a Common Property Resource: The Fishery marked the beginning of the modern economics study of common pool resources, including fisheries. His 1954 article, published in The Journal of Political Economy, has been cited more than 7,700 times as of January 2026, and deeply inspired three of his younger colleagues at Indiana University--Elinor Ostrom, Roy Gardner, and James Walker--to study the economics of the commons. He spent most of his career at Indiana University in Bloomington, teaching and writing about the history and philosophy of economics.

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Where the papers are held

The surviving papers of Gordon, H. Scott 1924-2019 are held at Indiana University Archives.

Holding institution(s) sourced from Wikidata — confirm current location and access arrangements with the archive before visiting.

Read the works online

Digitised full-text books and writings by Gordon, H. Scott 1924-2019 — free to read.

Cite this entry

Gordon, H. Scott 1924-2019. “Archival papers.” Economists’ Papers, https://www.economistspapers.org.uk/gordon-h-scott-1924-2019/ (accessed 19 Jun 2026).