This review evaluates the empirical support for Elinor Ostrom's eight design principles for managing common-pool resources (CPRs), analyzing 91 studies. The principles, which emphasize well-defined boundaries, congruence between rules and local conditions, collective-choice arrangements, monitoring, graduated sanctions, conflict-resolution mechanisms, minimum recognition of rights, and nested enterprises, are generally supported by empirical evidence. However, some theoretical issues remain. The principles are reformulated based on commonalities found in the studies. The analysis shows that the evaluation variable, indicating support for the principles, ranges from 1 (highly unsupportive) to 5 (highly supportive). The average evaluation score across all studies was 3.73, slightly below the moderately supportive level. Abstract studies had a lower median score, but the differences between study types were not statistically significant when abstract studies were excluded. The principles varied in their ratios of supportive to unsupportive cases, with most having at least twice as many supportive cases as unsupportive. The principles were generally supported, with some exceptions. The review also discusses critiques of the principles, including their incompleteness, the need for more detailed consideration of resource properties, and the importance of external socioeconomic factors. The principles are applicable to a wide range of cases, but their applicability to larger systems is debated. The review concludes that the principles are well-supported empirically and that further research is needed to address theoretical issues.This review evaluates the empirical support for Elinor Ostrom's eight design principles for managing common-pool resources (CPRs), analyzing 91 studies. The principles, which emphasize well-defined boundaries, congruence between rules and local conditions, collective-choice arrangements, monitoring, graduated sanctions, conflict-resolution mechanisms, minimum recognition of rights, and nested enterprises, are generally supported by empirical evidence. However, some theoretical issues remain. The principles are reformulated based on commonalities found in the studies. The analysis shows that the evaluation variable, indicating support for the principles, ranges from 1 (highly unsupportive) to 5 (highly supportive). The average evaluation score across all studies was 3.73, slightly below the moderately supportive level. Abstract studies had a lower median score, but the differences between study types were not statistically significant when abstract studies were excluded. The principles varied in their ratios of supportive to unsupportive cases, with most having at least twice as many supportive cases as unsupportive. The principles were generally supported, with some exceptions. The review also discusses critiques of the principles, including their incompleteness, the need for more detailed consideration of resource properties, and the importance of external socioeconomic factors. The principles are applicable to a wide range of cases, but their applicability to larger systems is debated. The review concludes that the principles are well-supported empirically and that further research is needed to address theoretical issues.