Abstract
Although the diffusion of policy innovations can promote sustainability, how this process can be accelerated remains unclear. I address this gap by conceptualizing policy transfer and policy diffusion using the multiple streams framework (MSF) and developing hypotheses to connect them. I apply this theorization to explain the limited spread of the energy conservation building code (ECBC) in India by combining a process trace of policy adoption in the embedded case of Andhra Pradesh with a dyadic event history analysis of state‐level diffusion during 2012‐18. The data for this study are collated from official statistics, elite interviews, news reports, policy documents, and secondary literature. The qualitative analysis shows that policy transfer to Andhra Pradesh occurred when external influence and prior adoption elsewhere were used by a policy entrepreneur to exploit a window of opportunity and couple problem, policy, and politics in the state; the dyadic analysis demonstrates that policy diffusion was influenced by the interaction among the structural characteristics of the problem, policy, and politics streams. I conclude with the implications for research on policy diffusion and the MSF as well as the relevance of the findings for promoting policy innovation for a sustainable energy transition.
Highlights
A better understanding of how to catalyze policy diffusion can help upscale policy innovations for sustainability, the literature on policy diffusion has, ironically, shed little light on the mechanisms of diffusion (Graham, Shipan, & Volden, 2013)
The Adoption of the Energy Conservation Building Code in Andhra Pradesh In January 2014, Andhra Pradesh became the fifth jurisdiction in the country to adopt the energy conservation building code (ECBC) and mandate it for commercial buildings above a certain size (Chakraborty, 2014)
I created a unifying theoretical framework for policy change, policy transfer, and policy diffusion and tested the hypotheses developed using the case of the state-level adoption of the ECBC in India
Summary
A better understanding of how to catalyze policy diffusion can help upscale policy innovations for sustainability, the literature on policy diffusion has, ironically, shed little light on the mechanisms of diffusion (Graham, Shipan, & Volden, 2013). Scholars have suggested that issues besetting this field include: (i) incoherence between conceptualization and operationalization (Maggetti & Gilardi, 2016); (ii) lack of integration between structure and agency (Graham et al, 2013; Marsh & Sharman, 2009); and (iii) a predominant focus on diffusion at the policy adoption stage, with hardly any research on how diffusion can affect agenda dynamics (Gilardi, 2016). I conceptualize the process of policy diffusion using the multiple streams framework (MSF)— which was initially proposed to explain agenda dynamics (Kingdon, 1995)—but has subsequently been employed to examine policy adoption and implementation as well (Fowler, 2020; Ridde, 2009; Zahariadis, 2003). The MSF can extend the application of policy diffusion to other stages of the policy process, including agenda-setting and policy implementation. The MSF, in turn, can be enriched by conceptual integration with
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