Policy Transfer as a Form of Prospective Policy Evaluation: Challenges and Recommendations

Abstract

This article focuses on policy transfer as a form of prospective policy analysis, which we define as policy makers' attempts to assess the effect of a policy or program before it is put in place. Despite a burgeoning literature on cross‐national policy transfer, there has been little systematic comparison of cases to identify either common problems or potential strategies in the practice of policy transfer. This article sets forth a rational model of policy transfer and examines, in light of that model, case studies of cross‐national policy transfer spanning different policy domains. Taking into account the constraints faced by policy makers, we relax standard rational decision‐making criteria and make recommendations for improving the process of policy transfer as a form of prospective policy evaluation.