Policy Diffusion Theory Research Articles

The Diffusion of Exclusion: Medieval Expulsions of Jews

What social processes guide the spread of ethnic or racial exclusion? I investigate the diffusion of medieval expulsions of Jews among over 500 polities in the western Holy Roman Empire, 1385–1520 CE. For medieval governors, religious and material concerns were strong rationales against expulsion. Yet expulsions increase markedly in the 15th century. Did an expulsion by one government affect another government’s choices about expulsion? I appraise three common theories of policy diffusion: learning, social reinterpretation, and social structural and resource constraints. Statistical models provide evidence only for the latter two. While theological changes gave expulsion fresh political value, the adoption of expulsion followed political and economic incentives that were embedded in inter-city relationships of power and dependency. The results indicate that social influence, especially spatial proximity, cannot be assumed to accelerate ethnoracial extremism.

Implications of Climate Change Litigation for Environmental Law and Policy in Ghana

Purpose: The aim of the study was to examine implications of climate change litigation for environmental law and policy in Ghana Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: The study found that the implications of climate change litigation for environmental law and policy in Ghana underscore the urgent need for robust legal frameworks and adaptive policy responses to address the multifaceted challenges posed by climate change. While Ghana has made strides in enacting environmental legislation and participating in international climate agreements, the increasing frequency and severity of climate-related impacts necessitate greater legal clarity, enforcement mechanisms, and stakeholder engagement to enhance climate resilience and adaptation efforts. Climate change litigation provides a crucial avenue for affected communities, civil society organizations, and environmental advocates to hold governments and corporations accountable for their contributions to climate change and their obligations to protect the environment and uphold human rights. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Legal Mobilization Theory, Policy Diffusion Theory & Ecological Modernization Theory may be used to anchor future studies on implications of climate change litigation for environmental law and policy in Ghana. Encourage strategic litigation that targets key actors, industries, and policy arenas to maximize the impact of legal interventions on environmental protection and climate action. This involves identifying leverage points within existing legal frameworks and leveraging innovative legal strategies, such as public trust doctrines and rights-based approaches, to advance environmental objectives. Foster greater integration of climate change litigation outcomes into national and international environmental policy-making processes. Governments and intergovernmental organizations should proactively incorporate legal precedents, court decisions, and settlement agreements into policy development, implementation, and evaluation.

Quantitative evaluation of the medicine innovation policy in China: based on the PMC-Index model.

Medicine innovation is crucial in promoting the sustainable development of medicine undertakings, which has significant economic and social benefits. China is the main force in global medicine consumption, with a huge demand for innovative medicines. Thus, the Chinese government releases a series of policies aimed at providing scientific and reasonable guidance for medicine innovation. However, there is inadequate quantitative evaluation and comparison of various medicine innovation policies in the existing studies. This paper adopts the approach of text mining and the Policy Modeling Consistency Index (PMC-Index) model to construct an evaluation system and then quantitatively evaluates and compares the traditional Chinese medicine innovation policies (TCMIPs), the biological medicine innovation policies (BMIPs), and the multiple medicine innovation policies (MMIPs) in China. The results indicate that: (1) The three types of drug innovation policies have similarities in content and goal through comparative analysis of high-frequency words, while they also have their own characteristics. (2) The average PMC-Index of 29 TCMIPs is 5.77, which has the highest policy bad rate (21%); the average PMC-Index of 12 BMIPs is 6.21, which has the highest policy good rate (92%); moreover, the average PMC-Index of 35 MMIPs is 6.06, which has the highest policy excellence rate (26%). (3) The BMIPs, MMIPs, and TCMIPs have similar scores on policy object, policy orientation, policy timeliness, policy evaluation, and policy accessibility, while they differ significantly mainly on policy nature, incentive method, policy function, policy issuing agency, and policy instrument. This study contributes to a comprehensive understanding of medicine innovation policies in China, in order to provide theoretical support for future policy formulation and optimization in the medicine industry. Moreover, we expand the application scenarios of policy diffusion theory.

Policy diffusion across political ideologies: explaining Denmark’s desire to externalise asylum

In 2021, the Danish Social Democratic government tabled a bill allowing asylum seekers to be transferred to another country to process claims and provide protection. Witnessing a Social Democratic government embracing this highly controversial idea, even though less than a handful of right-wing governments outside Europe had previously outsourced asylum, is puzzling. Policy diffusion theory is used to explain the underlying mechanism and analyse the justification strategies. In the face of public attention focused on the refugee protection crisis between 2014 and 2016, the Social Democrats embraced the idea of externalising asylum in order to be recognised as responsive problem solvers. Essentially, they employed three strategies to justify the policy and to mask its origin and its inconsistency with the party’s ideology: (1) referring to policy advisors as the original source of the idea; (2) reframing externalisation as a humanitarian project; and (3) shifting the narrative about Social Democratic identity.

The Influence of Non-State Actors in Climate Policymaking

Purpose: The main objective of this study is to explore the influence of non-state actors in climate policymaking.
 Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: The findings revealed that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to the influence of non-state actors in climate policymaking. Preliminary empirical review revealed that non-state actors, including civil society organizations, corporations, cities, and transnational networks, exert considerable influence through various mechanisms such as advocacy, mobilization, technical expertise, and collaboration with governments. Their involvement is driven by diverse motivations, including environmental stewardship, economic interests, and the pursuit of social and ethical values. One key takeaway from this study is that non-state actors are not merely peripheral actors in the climate policy landscape; rather, they are central to the process of crafting effective climate policies. Their contributions span from raising public awareness and holding governments accountable to providing innovative solutions and pushing for ambitious climate targets. However, the extent of their influence can vary significantly depending on the specific context, the level of government involved, and the particular issue at hand.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The Network Governance theory, Interest Group theory and the Policy Diffusion theory maybe used to anchor future studies on climate policymaking. Recommendations made from the study include the following: enhancing transparency and accountability, strengthening collaboration, promoting inclusivity, supporting capacity building and global knowledge sharing.

도시재생 기반 관광 공간의 확산요인 분석: 정책확산이론을 중심으로

In this study, the diffusion process of the innovative policy of urban regeneration was examined from the perspective of tourism, and the analysis was conducted on the premise that spatial interaction between local governments can occur based on policy diffusion theory. As a result of the exploratory analysis, it was confirmed that spatial autocorrelation occurs between neighboring local governments, while spatial heterogeneity exists between local governments with different geographical locations. According to the results of spatial regression analysis, competition, learning, and forcing mechanisms appeared significantly in the ordinance adoption process in the early stage of policy introduction, and only competition and learning mechanisms showed significant influence in the later ordinance revision process. In other words, the more actively local governments within the same metropolitan government adopt or revise ordinances, and the more successful the adoption and revision of ordinances by neighboring local governments is, the more active the local governments are in introducing and revising ordinances. It can be interpreted. In addition, it can be understood that local governments that have difficulty receiving financial support from higher-level governments are more active in initially adopting ordinances and less so in the process of revising ordinances. Accordingly, we have presented policy implications aimed at fostering the sustainability of urban regeneration areas, which are increasingly recognized as new tourism spaces, with a focus on factors influencing policy diffusion.

Policy diffusion in unlikely places: between emulation and coercion in northern Cyprus

ABSTRACT This article utilizes policy diffusion theory to understand the policy processes in de facto states, specifically, to investigate policy-making in the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC),’ examining whether policies diffused to the ‘TRNC’ and which mechanisms are responsible for diffusion. Although one might expect that lack of recognition limits the diffusion of policies to de facto states, the findings suggest that the ‘TRNC’ has been quite susceptible to diffusion, albeit the source of diffusion is largely restricted to a single state, which is the patron state. The article also shows that policy diffusion often happens through the logic of emulation and coercion and, less so, through learning and competition. This means that the policy diffusion theory can apply to de facto states, but it also creates a question mark about the latter’s political independence from their patron states, which undermines their claim of independence.

Intergovernmental Policy Signal Transmission and Open Government Data Platform Pilot Diffusion in China

Intergovernmental relations play an important role in policy innovation diffusion, yet few studies have analyzed its impact on open government data (OGD) adoption. We used event history analysis to analyze the diffusion of OGD in China. The diffusion of OGD among municipal governments is primarily influenced by vertical pressure from superior governments and horizontal pressure from neighboring governments, with the latter having a greater impact. The provincial government plays an intermediary role between the central government and the municipal government. A comprehensive analysis of the interplay between policy signals and policy pilots demonstrates that provincial signals have a substantial influence on municipal pilots, whereas the impact of provincial pilots on municipal signals is insignificant. These findings contribute to OGD adoption research and practices and promote the development of policy diffusion theory.

Policy diffusion theory, evidence-informed public health, and public health political science: a scoping review

ObjectivesOur aim was to synthesize published scholarship that applies policy diffusion—a theory of the policy process that considers the interdependence of government-level public health policy choices. We paid particular attention to the role of scientific evidence in the diffusion process, and to identifying challenges and gaps towards strengthening the intersection of public health, public policy, and political science.MethodsWe systematically searched 17 electronic academic databases. We included English-language, peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2021. For each article, we extracted the following information: public health policy domain, geographic setting, diffusion directions and mechanisms, the role of scientific evidence in the diffusion process, and author research discipline.SynthesisWe identified 39 peer-reviewed, primary research articles. Anti-smoking and tobacco control policies in the United States (n = 9/39) were the most common policy domain and geographic context examined; comparatively fewer studies examined policy diffusion in the Canadian context (n = 4/39). In terms of how policies diffuse, we found evidence of five diffusion mechanisms (learning, emulation, competition, coercion, and social contagion), which could moreover be conditional on internal government characteristics. The role of scientific evidence in the diffusion process was unclear, as only five articles discussed this. Policy diffusion theory was primarily used by public policy and political science scholars (n = 19/39), with comparatively fewer interdisciplinary authorship teams (n = 6/39).ConclusionPolicy diffusion theory provides important insights into the intergovernmental factors that influence public health policy decisions, thus helping to expand our conceptualization of evidence-informed public health. Despite this, policy diffusion research in the Canadian public health context is limited.

Environmental benefits of innovation policy: China's national independent innovation demonstration zone policy and haze control.

In recent years, China has focused its development on technological innovation, trying to achieve a win-win situation between environmental protection and economic growth, and it has formulated a series of policies to promote technological innovation. Taking China's national independent innovation demonstration zone (NIIDZ) policy as an example, this paper empirically investigates the impact of China's innovation policy on haze pollution by using a difference-in-differences (DID) model. The results show that the NIIDZ policy promotes the governance of urban haze pollution and confirms the applicability of the experimentalist governance model in the practice of innovation policy in developing countries. Dynamic analysis shows that the NIIDZ policy has an experience accumulation effect. This policy can continue to promote haze control for at least 6 years, and the policy effect increases year by year. Action mechanism analysis shows that the NIIDZ policy can inhibit urban haze pollution by promoting urban technological innovation and high-tech industrial agglomeration. The estimation results of the spatial DID model show that the NIIDZ policy not only inhibits haze pollution in NIIDZ cities but also has an inhibitory effect on haze pollution in the surrounding non-NIIDZ cities and the NIIDZ cities, which confirms the positive externality characteristics of policy diffusion theory and environmental governance. The conclusions of this paper have important theoretical value for understanding the ecological effect of innovation policy and provide experience for developing countries to implement an experimentalist governance model.

Assessment of Critical Diffusion Factors of Public–Private Partnership and Social Policy: Evidence from Mainland Prefecture-Level Cities in China

Cooperation between government and social capital is an important starting point in the supply-side reform of public services. It is also an effective practice in public governance innovation. Based on policy diffusion theory and event history analysis (EHA), this study analyzes panel data from 282 mainland prefecture-level cities in China from 2004–2020 to explore public–private partnerships’ critical diffusion factors. The study reveals that motivation factors, resource/obstacle factors, and external factors affect government and social capital cooperation policies to different extents. The main driving forces for local governments to adopt these policies are population size, level of economic development, government financial resources, the learning mechanism, and the imitation mechanism. This study proposes the following arguments: firstly, that the ultimate goal of policy innovation is to solve social contradictions and meet public demand; secondly, that economic resources can help to adopt policy innovation and proper diffusion; thirdly, that the public–private partnership (PPP) model has been continuously developed by using experience from other projects or cities through a learning mechanism; and finally, that policy publicity and public opinion expressed via the mainstream media are not only an inducement for policy innovation and diffusion, but also a powerful guarantee. The experience of local governments in China can help to verify whether the “positive factors” that are traditionally considered to be conducive to the cooperation between the government and social capital are effective, and to reveal the internal logic of the innovation diffusion of public policies of local governments in China from a more multidimensional perspective.

De verspreiding van de Rotterdamwet in de regio Rijnmond: een analyse van diffusiemechanismen

The so called Dutch ‘Rotterdam Act’ (Act on Extraordinary Measures for Urban Problems) is an ultimum remedium for persistent neighborhood problems such as concentrated poverty and criminality. The idea is that selective housing allocation benefits the local quality of life. Despite the fact that the origin and effects of the policy have been extensively researched, it remains insufficiently clear why increasingly more municipalities choose to introduce this policy. This development is remarkable, as evaluations show few convincing positive developments in the assigned neighborhoods and much criticism has been voiced about the discriminatory nature of the measure. By applying theories of policy diffusion, this study attempts to answer the question why the measure is gaining popularity. Using the event history analysis method – with data collected from council debates, council documentation, the ‘Leefbaarometer’ and ‘Findo’ – it has become clear that the municipalities in this region mainly follow nationally set norms drawn up and spread by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior. It also becomes clear that the municipalities are transformatively copying the policy from the municipality of Rotterdam: the municipalities are trying to shape their policy in such a way that it deviates from the ‘unsuccessful’ version of Rotterdam. The expectation of local councilmembers is that the chance of success is therefore higher, although the alternative version is not substantiated by thorough research. Thus, the policymakers are implementing the far-reaching policy despite substantial uncertainty about the results.

Post-Communist Countries’ Participation in Global Forums on Climate Action

ABSTRACT Global forums on climate action consist of groups of countries that take climate action outside of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This analysis investigates in which global forums post-Communist countries participate and their motivation for it. The article draws from theories of policy diffusion to explain why post-Communist countries have joined such forums. It contends that the wish to follow the example of high-status countries , considerations concerning economic competitiveness, and the wish to obtain access to knowledge are potential factors explaining membership. Our findings suggest that access to knowledge was the most relevant driver of participation.

Charm Offensive or Offensive Charm? An Analysis of Russian and Chinese Cultural Institutes Abroad

Major powers have long used cultural institutes to enhance their appeal in foreign countries. As aspirant powers, Russia and China have recently launched cultural institutes of their own with the aim of improving their international reputations. However, the location and operations of the Confucius Institutes and Russkiy Mir Institutes often seem to run counter to these aims. Drawing on policy diffusion theory (PDT), we argue that these choices are less the product of strategic calculation than of policy emulation and decoupling. Using a mixed methods approach, we show that, while the Confucius Institutes and Russkiy Mir Institutes were modelled after their Western counterparts (emulation), China and Russia have operated their institutes in ways that go against the principles of cultural diplomacy (decoupling). An analysis of field research on these institutes suggests more overall decoupling with Confucius Institutes than with Russkiy Mir Institutes, which might help account for the relatively greater backlash against the Confucius Institutes in their host countries.

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.

A retrospective and prospective assessment of the zero-markup drug reform in China from the perspective of policy diffusion.

The zero-markup drug policy is an important component of the new round of Chinese health care reform that began in 2009 to promote the separation between medical and pharmaceutical services, reduce patients' medical burden, and improve the medical supply security system. Over the past 8years, the zero-markup drug reform policy has been carried out in 4 pilot rounds (a policy diffusion model with Chinese characteristics) and has been promoted throughout the mainland China. At this critical point, it is necessary to review this policy systematically. Therefore, based on the literature, government documents, and interview records, this study analyzed the characteristics, progress, achievements, challenges, and recommendations of zero-markup drug reform by using the policy diffusion theory. The study found that zero-markup drug reform has completed its initial diffusion by use of the "policy experiment" method and has reduced drug prices and patients' burden to a certain extent. However, in the next phase of policy diffusion, the reform still requires adjustment and innovative measures to respond to future challenges. Generally speaking, as China's unique health care reform practice, the experience of zero-markup drug reform could be used as a reference for other countries to control drug prices, separate medical and pharmaceutical services, and establish a modern system of hospital operation.

Drivers of institutional change around the world: The case of IFRS

Today more than ever it is crucial to understand the dynamic and intricate institutional landscape that MNEs operate in. However, the drivers of institutional change are still little understood. We focus on a recent fundamental institutional change: the worldwide switch to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The switch to IFRS was unexpected and not particularly welcomed by MNEs given that most national accounting systems in the pre-IFRS period were considered to be well aligned to the local cultural and environmental characteristics of each country. We test the drivers of this institutional change in a sample of 168 countries between 2002 and 2012 using empirical constructs from policy diffusion theory. Our findings show that the country-level decisions to adopt IFRS are not driven by local determinants but instead by adoption decisions by other, neighbouring countries and influential organizations. We find evidence for competition, learning and emulation as driving forces for the international spread of IFRS. We conclude that the switch to IFRS was not driven by an economic rationale only and diffused beyond the influence and interest of MNEs. Understanding these drivers is essential, because it enables management to anticipate and respond to institutional changes and consequently enhance performance and create competitive advantage.

Diffusion of Policies, Practices and Social Technologies in Brazil

Diffusion of Policies, Practices and Social Technologies in Brazil * (Faria, Carlos Aurelio Pimenta de; Coelho, Denilson Bandeira, and Jard da Silva, Sidney (eds). Difusao de Politicas Publicas. Sao Bernardo do Campo: Publisher UFABC, 2016)It is welcoming introduction to the Brazilian academic community the arrival of the book 'Public Policy Diffusion', edited by Professors Faria, Coelho and Jard da Silva. As is stated in the opening pages of the book, the use of diffusion models is very incipient in Brazil in comparison to the level of knowledge accumulation in the international literature, especially in the USA. In this sense, is an admirable effort to gather together ten chapters not only discussing the dissemination and adoption of public policies but also presenting diverse collection in terms of perspectives and models possible to be used as an analytical reference.But, in my view, this book could also be read as attempted explanations for the adoption of policies, practices and ideas in the Brazilian case. With the exception of the first chapter (by COELHO), which discusses analytical tools of this literature, nine out of the ten chapters include Brazil in their analysis, either as single case or in comparison to other Latin American countries and worldwide. Although is not the purpose of the editors, I could not avoid making connections among chapters thinking about possible general findings for the Brazilian case, which I will discuss further on.For the unfamiliar reader, the phenomenon of policy diffusion could be summarized in the following puzzle: why and how some policies get to be considered as 'good practices' and adopted by other governments?Let us first say that diffusion or transference of policies is not something neww in policy systems. What is new is an academic interest to study the phenomenon and to extract regular patterns for explanation. One thing, then, is to show policies, practices or social technologies being spread or disseminated among governments, but something quite different is to attempt to explain why and how this happens in the attempt of constructing theories of policy diffusion, transfer or, more generally, learning.Some models of explanations, concepts and types of mechanisms that could produce diffusion are presented and discussed. Although there is no unity in the use and applications of the analytical tools and concepts among authors, is possible to extract some basic features of policy diffusion models.We learn that countries or subnational governments may 01. innovate, that is, adopt new policy, program or practice; 02. emulate (adapting the original policy to local contexts and objectives) or 03. copy the original policy (associated with coercion). Innovation does not equate to invention as is understood as a program that is new to the government adopting it (BERRY and BERRY, 2007). These are pioneering experiences that may lead to the spreading or adoption by other governments. Emulation does not equate to copying. It means that local conditions and actors will play role by adapting the original policy to their own needs and beliefs. The case of copying the original policy without adaptation, argue some of the authors, would be more common in countries that do not have enough bureaucratic/state capacity and is normally associated with the adoption of certain practices as condition for loans from international agencies. Hence the label 'coercion' for this type of mechanism in which governments do not have, really, much of choice.Countries may also be analyzed as 'importers' or 'exporters' of policy innovation as some of the authors argue.Based on the readings of the Brazilian case presented throughout the book, one learns that Brazil (also valid for other Latin American countries) has 'imported' and/or diffused domestically the ideas of economic liberalization, regulatory agencies after privatization (chapter by JORDANA), new models of reforming Public Pension (by JARDIM and JARD DA SILVA) and also models of administrative/management reforms (by ABRUCIO, SANO and SEGATTO; and also by PALOTTI, PEREIRA and CAMOES). …

A quantitative study on the diffusion of public policy in China: evidence from the S&T finance sector

With the deepening of the reform and opening-up process, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and other relevant ministries in China have jointly promulgated thousands of policies and regulations in the last few decades. The objective has been to adjust science and technology (S&T) finance policy tools, and to continually optimize an environment of financial support for S&T innovation and related public policies. Studying the diffusion mechanisms of the S&T finance activities in the policy documents jointly issued by these ministries cannot only reflect the intersection and linkages between S&T activities and finance and taxation affairs, but can also create a scientific and feasible research path for the ‘black box’ that is the S&T finance policy process. Based on a review of policy diffusion theory and related literature, and taking China’s S&T finance policy as the research subject, 367 central government policies and 3869 local government policies issued between 1981 and 2015 were collected using the Tsinghua University Government Documents Information System (GDIS). By analyzing the external attributes of the policy literature network, and the timing of keywords used by the internal tools of the policy literature, the process and characteristics of the policy diffusion of S&T achievements transformation were observed along the four dimensions of intensity, breadth, speed, and direction.

The Spatial Diffusion of Counterterrorist Legislation, 1970-2011

Ostensibly, nations adopt counterterrorist legislation in response to terrorist attacks and/or in an attempt to prevent future attacks. Yet, recent data on global historical trends suggest a decoupling of counterterrorist legislation and actual terrorist acts. Furthermore, previous studies of state policies demonstrate that actors often adopt policies for a variety of reasons, many of which are unrelated to the declarative purposes of these policies. In this article, I examine the factors that predict counterterrorist legislation. Analyzing national-level counterterrorist legislation in 145 countries between the years 1970 and 2011, I find limited support for actor-oriented theories of policy diffusion, but more substantial support for sociological approaches, in particular those emphasizing spatial and cultural diffusion.