Mechanisms Of Policy Diffusion Research Articles

To sandbox or not to sandbox? Diverging strategies of regulatory responses to FinTech

AbstractA regulatory sandbox is an emerging tool for addressing the challenges posed by the FinTech industry, but countries have embraced it to varying degrees. There is a need to systematically examine the question: Which factors explain the diverging trajectories in countries' decision to use (or not use) this instrument? This paper examines the adoption of regulatory sandboxes for FinTech in the Baltic states, where we can observe markedly divergent trajectories. Estonia has not exploited the possibilities of this instrument, while Lithuania and Latvia adopted a regulatory sandbox in 2018 and 2021, respectively. We analyze the political, legal, administrative, and economic factors affecting the adoption (or non‐adoption) of regulatory sandboxes for FinTech. We find that the decision to adopt a regulatory sandbox for FinTech is primarily influenced by the efforts of policy entrepreneurs, mechanisms of policy diffusion, and the policy actors' perceptions of legal constraints and available regulatory capacities.

Diffusion of “dual carbon” policies among Chinese cities: A network evolution analysis

Numerous regions across China have introduced “dual carbon” policies, yet the response of cities to these policies remains unclear. In this study, we used emission data from 271 Chinese cities for the years 2010, 2015, and 2020 to construct a complex network of urban carbon emissions with a modified gravity model. To further investigate the drivers of the “dual carbon” policy diffusion, we conducted a simulation of network evolution under the two policy diffusion mechanisms of coercion and learning. Our findings indicate that the “dual carbon” policy exhibits a network diffusion effect, with cost-effectiveness serve as a critical factor influencing its spread. And the China's low carbon price lacks incentives for reduction, carbon pricing needs to be increased and differentiated emission reduction incentives, penalties for over-emission, and carbon quotas based on the type of decoupling of the city need to be introduced to facilitate the diffusion of policies. Additionally, through counterfactual scenario analysis and an exploration of network structural characteristics, we highlighted the vital role of cities with high betweenness centrality within urban agglomerations in facilitating efficient policy diffusion. This study also offers a process for selecting pilot cities, providing a valuable reference for future policy initiatives.

Diffusion of innovation, innovation studies, and innovation policies: cross-fertilisation to improve smart specialisation strategies (S3)

The paper reviews the diffusion research approach to the analysis of innovations and its impact on innovation studies. This social approach brought a new understanding of the innovation process by focusing on analysing the factors that influence the spread of innovations instead of focusing on its technical basis. We also review the different approaches to the study of the spread of policies – policy diffusion, policy transfer and policy mobility. We review the reception of diffusion research in innovation studies to recover some insights and to integrate them into current innovation policy debate. We use the innovation policy of Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3) as an example of how this integration could be done. After reviewing the main challenges of S3, we show the importance of improving the implementation phase of innovation policies through different mechanisms. For example, we indicate the need of paying more attention to mechanisms of policy diffusion, such as learning and, specially, socialisation as these could lead to more stable and long-term policy changes.

Public policy in multi-level systems: A new research agenda for the study of regional-level policy

ABSTRACT While there is a cumulative research programme on the causes of decentralization to regional and local governments, research on its policy consequences is less integrated. This article takes stock of the existing research on the policy consequences of decentralisation. It highlights the existence of disparate lines of investigation while pointing to ways in which they can connect. To do so, we review 102 articles from 20 top generalist and subfields journals, from 1998-2018. We find that there is an important geographical divide in research traditions: US scholars tend to focus the pressures of competitive ‘race-to-the-bottom’ dynamics or on mechanisms of policy diffusion; comparative and non-US scholars instead emphasise institutional diversity across decentralized countries and drivers of variation in subnational policy choices, including structural and cultural factors, partisanship and vertical and horizontal linkages. In the conclusion, we develop five conclusions that highlight how this sub-field can develop a coherent research programme.

The diffusion of climate change adaptation policy

AbstractAdapting to some level of climate change has become unavoidable. However, there is surprisingly limited systematic knowledge about whether and how adaptation policies have diffused and could diffuse in the future. Most existing adaptation studies do not explicitly examine policy diffusion, which is a form of interdependent policy‐making among jurisdictions at the same or across different levels of governance. To address this gap, we offer a new interpretation and assessment of the extensive adaptation policy literature through a policy diffusion perspective; we pay specific attention to diffusion drivers and barriers, motivations, mechanisms, outputs, and outcomes. We assess the extent to which four motivations and related mechanisms of policy diffusion—interests (linked with learning and competition), rights and duties (tied to coercion), ideology, and recognition (both connected with emulation)—are conceptually and empirically associated with adaptation. We also engage with adaptation policy characteristics, contextual conditions (e.g., problem severity) and different channels of adaptation policy diffusion (e.g., transnational networks). We demonstrate that adaptation policy diffusion can be associated with different mechanisms, yet many of them remain remarkably understudied. So are the effects of adaptation policy diffusion in terms of changes in vulnerability and resilience. We thus identify manifold avenues for future research, and provide insights for practitioners who may hope to leverage diffusion mechanisms to enhance their adaptation efforts.This article is categorized under: Policy and Governance > Multilevel and Transnational Climate Change Governance Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change > Institutions for Adaptation

Understanding policy diffusion mechanism of financial regulatory innovation: the experience of Taiwan

ABSTRACT This paper thoroughly examines the adoption of the financial regulatory sandbox regime in Taiwan. As the first civil law country that has promulgated a new law to implement this regime, Taiwan contributes towards and embodies an archetype of policy diffusion mechanisms of financial regulatory innovation. The discussion on sandbox diffusion remains incomplete in the literature, and this paper is an attempt to fill in the gaps. Our analysis suggests that financial regulators, the legislative branch, foreign regulators, government-supported fintech hubs, and private institutions are all affiliated in this process of policy diffusion. Forerunner states provide essential references and sometimes offer direct assistance to help promulgate the sandbox regime. This paper also explores the three main diffusion mechanisms: competition, learning, and emulation, which have all played different roles in this process of diffusion. Despite different and sometimes conflicting interests, stakeholders are concerned with fintech-related regulatory issues. Their shared interests in the regulatory sandbox regime result from a strong consensus, thus leading to the successful enactment of sandbox legislation. Taiwan’s case study holds policy implications on how a civil law country adopts financial regulatory innovation and through which mechanisms the popular regulatory sandbox was diffused into the country.

All roads lead to Paris: The eight pathways to renewable energy target adoption

About 78% of global greenhouse gas emissions between 1970 and 2010 were due to fossil fuel combustion, increasing the atmospheric mixing ratio of carbon dioxide to around 419 ppm by June 2021. During a similar period, between 1975 and 2017, 162 countries adopted renewable energy targets – official national commitments to increase the share of renewable energies. What induced the diffusion of these renewable energy targets? What are the patterns of their diffusion? We analyze data from 187 countries and assess four possible mechanisms of policy diffusion of renewable energy targets: learning, economic competition, emulation, and coercion. Using a qualitative comparative analysis, we find eight pathways to renewable energy target adoption. In the most common pathways, economic competition, emulation, and coercion played a significant role. Before there is a critical mass of countries to emulate, our analysis shows that early adopters followed the mechanisms of economic competition and coercion. Ultimately, we find that there is no one recipe for the diffusion of renewable energy targets, and we identify the specific countries associated with the different diffusion pathways.

Theorizing policy diffusion: from a patchy set of mechanisms to a paradigmatic typology

ABSTRACT In recent decades, we have witnessed the diffusion of policy diffusion studies across many sub-disciplines of political science. Four mechanisms of policy diffusion—learning, competition, emulation and coercion—have become widely accepted as explanations for how policymaking processes and policy outcomes in one polity influence those in other polities. After pointing to major shortcomings of this inductively gained set of mechanisms, we present a theoretically more coherent typology that draws on key concepts from International Relations and Policy Studies. The four mechanisms we lay down consider rationalist and social constructivist approaches equally and they incorporate symmetric and asymmetric constellations. By further distinguishing between processes confined to one policy field and those arising from links across policy fields, we present a typology of eight theoretically consistent pathways of policy diffusion. Our framework enables the aggregation of knowledge and contributes to conceptual coherence in multi-methods research.

The Sincerest Form of Flattery: Nationalist Emulation during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

As COVID-19 rapidly spread across the globe, every government in the world has been forced to enact policies to slow the spread of the virus. While leaders often claim responses are based on the best available advice from scientists and public health experts, recent policy diffusion research suggests that countries are emulating the COVID-19 policies of their neighbors instead of responding to domestic conditions. Political and geographic considerations play a role in determining which countries imitate one another, but even among countries that are politically or geographically distant, nationalist regimes seem to favor certain approaches towards the pandemic. We investigate why this is the case by examining whether countries that embrace a nationalist ideology are more likely to emulate the COVID-19 policies of similarly nationalist regimes. We demonstrate that, even after controlling for domestic circumstances and linguistic, trade, geographic, and political connections, nationalist countries are emulating each other’s responses. These results are robust and shed light not only on new mechanisms of policy diffusion but also on the growing international cooperation of nationalist regimes and leaders.

From a breeze to the four winds: A panel analysis of the international diffusion of renewable energy incentive policies (2005–2015)

How do renewable energy policies (REPs) diffuse internationally? Are there differences between developed and developing countries? Which actors are diffusing these REPs? Also, what predominates when considering REP diffusion, national or international factors? The goal of this paper is to analyze the main vectors and actors that influence renewable energy policy adoption and identify differences between developed and developing countries. We access those questions by a mixed method analysis: quali and quantitatively. First, we discuss qualitatively the main external, intermediate and internal actors behind international wind energy policies diffusion. Then, we estimate a Poisson regression model using data for 194 countries, 102 of which are developing countries, from 2005 to 2015 testing the role of policy diffusion mechanisms on renewable energy policy diffusion. Among the main results, we found strong evidence of socialization and learning on international policy diffusion to developing countries, while domestic factors play a major role, especially with regard to market liberalization in developed countries. We also show some of the key actors related to REPs and we note that the causal mechanisms that lead to the adoption of REPs may differ among countries according to their level of economic development.

Multiple mechanisms of policy diffusion in China

ABSTRACTAn increased interest in policy diffusion research on China has emerged in recent years. However, the multiple diffusion mechanisms in China have not been explored adequately. In this research, we employ the directed dyadic event history analysis, a new approach introduced into recent policy diffusion research, to examine the diffusion of China’s provincial level administrative licencing centres from 1999 to 2015. Our research provides consistent evidence that horizontal learning, imitation, and the vertical top-down diffusion mechanisms can coexist in China, which provides substantial empirical support for the application of policy diffusion theory in non-western countries.

Rethinking the diffusion of renewable energy policies: A global assessment of feed-in tariffs and renewable portfolio standards

This article examines the global diffusion of two dominant renewable energy policies: feed-in tariffs (FIT) and renewable portfolio standards (RPS). It focuses on four mechanisms of policy diffusion: emulation, suasion, learning and competition. The findings of quantitative methods (logistic regression models and event history analysis) show strong support for emulation mechanisms in the diffusion of FIT and RPS. In the diffusion of FIT and RPS there is some support for learning and suasion. There is a robust finding of support that the competition mechanism does not explain diffusion of RPS and FIT.

Do small municipalities imitate larger ones? Diffusion of water privatization policies

Studies on local services privatization have traditionally focused on factors such as pragmatic, ideological and political issues, with little attention paid to the option of policy diffusion processes. The main contribution of this paper consists of introducing the possibility that local policymakers can be influenced by policy adopted by other local governments. The presence of a policy diffusion process, which explains part of the decision to privatize, is expected. Three new variables, not considered in previous studies, are introduced in order to test three hypotheses of policy diffusion. In doing so, data from 755 municipalities in Andalusia (southern Spain) for the period 1995–2013 are used. For data analysis a Logit Multilevel Model is applied. Results confirm the importance of the mechanisms of policy diffusion when adopting privatization policies.

Policy Diffusion in Polarized Times: The Case of the Affordable Care Act.

With increasing ideological polarization both within states and across states, policy makers face new challenges in developing and refining policies. This essay explores these challenges in the context of the spread of health policies across the states under the Affordable Care Act, highlighting key arguments and findings from the authors in this Special Issue. I discuss how common mechanisms of policy diffusion, the attributes of policies themselves, and the conditional nature of policy diffusion all play somewhat different roles during polarized times. In addition to new challenges to policy makers, polarization offers new opportunities for experimentation and learning that may be valuable to scholars and practitioners alike.

Military-Style Weapons in Policing: A Limited Test of Diffusion Theory

This limited examination of policy diffusion mechanisms provides some support for learning as a mechanism for diffusing patrol rifles across police agencies. Policy diffusion is generally defined as a government making policy choices based on the policies existing in other governments. A contemporary law enforcement concern for police agencies is the “active-shooter” incident. Many police agencies now have policies that allow their street officers to be armed with patrol rifles, a high-powered, military-style weapon that historically was used only by SWAT officers. This study used a snowball sampling technique to distribute an online survey to 168 officers who in the past had attended the FBI National Academy. Three mechanisms common in policy diffusion were measured: learning, coercion, and imitation. While measures of learning were seen in the diffusion process, the measure of imitation was inconsistent with expectations, and coercion was not found in the data. Considerations for future research are discussed, including the need for improved measures and the potential for utilizing public opinion in studies of the patrol rifle policy diffusion process.

Examining media markets’ influence on the diffusion of antismoking legislation in US counties

ABSTRACTThis article assesses the role of mass media markets in the diffusion of antismoking legislation in the state of Missouri in the US. Testing multiple diffusion theories, this study finds that media markets can facilitate the diffusion of policies among local jurisdictions by exacerbating intercounty competition. More attention should be given to media markets when assessing policy diffusion mechanisms at the local level. Media markets can be an important source for policy information conveyance among counties over a large geographic area. Furthermore, traditional diffusion studies that rely on geographical contiguity measures may not be completely capturing the existence of diffusion by excluding media markets.

Externalizing EU Law, Policy and Values -- Europe's Global Identity, Mechanisms of Rule Transfer and Case Studies on Illegal Logging and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Externalizing EU Law, Policy and Values -- Europe's Global Identity, Mechanisms of Rule Transfer and Case Studies on Illegal Logging and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Problems (and solutions) in the measurement of policy diffusion mechanisms

AbstractA growing literature in public policy, comparative politics and international relations has studied how the policies of one unit (e.g. country, federal state or city) are influenced by the policies of other units – that is, how policies diffuse. This article provides a meta-analysis of 114 studies, demonstrating persisting inconsistencies in the measurement of the mechanisms driving policy diffusion processes. Different indicators are used to measure the same mechanism, and the same indicators are used to measure different mechanisms. To improve this state of affairs, this article puts forward a conceptual structure that serves as a guide for the application of diffusion arguments, a starting point for theoretical refinement and a benchmark to assess measurement validity. In addition to paying more attention to the conceptual consistency of indicators, overcoming the problems currently found in the literature requires the construction of original, innovative research designs instead of the replication of widely used templates.

Cosmic top secret Europe? The legacy of North Atlantic Treaty Organization and cold war US policy on European Union information policy

As the EU has expanded its authority into areas of high politics such as monetary, defense, and foreign policy, it has simultaneously developed procedures for handling more sensitive and classified information. These critical policy domains require standards regulating secure information and personnel, but the concept of official secrets is in tension with the treaty norms of the EU. Observers allege that the classified information policy of the EU was imposed through the coercion of external actors such as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the USA in a significant historical departure from the information security policies of European member states. This article evaluates the content of EU-classified information policies and compares them to the content of European member states, NATO, and the USA, in an effort to clarify the mechanisms of policy diffusion in the area of information security.

A Common Renewable Energy Policy in Europe? Explaining the German-Polish Policy Non-Convergence

While the European Commission envisaged the creation of a ‘common European energy market’ by 2014, it is quite clear that the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty protecting national sovereignty over energy policies and mixes are here to stay. We have, however, seen some visible moves towards EU-wide energy governance coordination through regulation and steering bodies. What about policy convergence? While some authors argue that we are seeing policy convergence in the specific area of renewable energy (regulated by the Climate and Energy Package targets), we investigate a case of clear non-convergence: Germany and Poland. This article analyzes the different channels and mechanisms of policy diffusion and tries to explain why, despite the geographic proximity and compatibility of energy systems, Germany and Poland have so far been very different in their renewable energy policy choices. We focus on four mechanisms discussed in the political science literature: learning, emulation, competition and coercion, and show why the Polish government is largely ignoring the developments taking place in the neighboring country and following its established pattern of development in the power sector. We show the limits and potentials of each mechanism, and conclude with some policy implications for both neighboring countries.