IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jothpo/v26y2014i2p177-196.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

International policy diffusion at the systemic level: Linking micro patterns to macro dynamism

Author

Listed:
  • Taku Yukawa

    (Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University, Japan)

  • Iku Yoshimoto

    (Department of Political Science, Ohio State University, USA)

  • Susumu Yamakage

    (Graduate School of International Politics, Economics and Communication, Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan)

Abstract

This article tries to identify the conditions under which international policy diffusion occurs, focusing on networks among states. In the existing policy diffusion literature, ‘networks’ have recently attracted the attention of scholars. Using Agent-Based Simulation, we consider the question of whether a new policy diffuses more widely in a community with dense networks or in a community with sparse networks. Our results show that denser networks do not always lead to more diffusion. Moreover, we find that ‘network structure’, namely whether easily affected states are connected to innovators, greatly determines the outcome of policy diffusion. Conducting a deductive thought-experiment rather than inductive (mainly statistical) analysis, our research presents a counter-intuitive result concerning the effects of network density on policy diffusion. In addition, we make a contribution to the methodology of international relations by attempting to bridge the unit- and system-levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Taku Yukawa & Iku Yoshimoto & Susumu Yamakage, 2014. "International policy diffusion at the systemic level: Linking micro patterns to macro dynamism," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 26(2), pages 177-196, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jothpo:v:26:y:2014:i:2:p:177-196
    DOI: 10.1177/0951629813493213
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0951629813493213
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0951629813493213?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eric Abrahamson & Lori Rosenkopf, 1997. "Social Network Effects on the Extent of Innovation Diffusion: A Computer Simulation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(3), pages 289-309, June.
    2. Joshua M. Epstein & Robert L. Axtell, 1996. "Growing Artificial Societies: Social Science from the Bottom Up," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262550253, April.
    3. Volden, Craig & Ting, Michael M. & Carpenter, Daniel P., 2008. "A Formal Model of Learning and Policy Diffusion," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 102(3), pages 319-332, August.
    4. Simmons, Beth A. & Elkins, Zachary, 2004. "The Globalization of Liberalization: Policy Diffusion in the International Political Economy," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 98(1), pages 171-189, February.
    5. Simmons, Beth A. & Dobbin, Frank & Garrett, Geoffrey, 2006. "Introduction: The International Diffusion of Liberalism," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(4), pages 781-810, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fabrizio Gilardi, 2010. "Who Learns from What in Policy Diffusion Processes?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(3), pages 650-666, July.
    2. Sophie Perrin & Thomas Bernauer, 2010. "International regime formation revisited: Explaining ratification behaviour with respect to long-range transboundary air pollution agreements in Europe," European Union Politics, , vol. 11(3), pages 405-426, September.
    3. Felix Strebel & Thomas Widmer, 2012. "Visibility and facticity in policy diffusion: going beyond the prevailing binarity," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 45(4), pages 385-398, December.
    4. Agnello, Luca & Castro, Vitor & Jalles, João Tovar & Sousa, Ricardo M., 2015. "What determines the likelihood of structural reforms?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 129-145.
    5. Jorge Chica‐Olmo & Marina Checa‐Olivas, 2021. "Spatial impact of factors influencing the achievement of the Europa2020 employment targets," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(3), pages 633-649, June.
    6. Daniel Berliner, 2013. "Follow your Neighbor? Regional Emulation and the Design of Transparency Policies," KFG Working Papers p0055, Free University Berlin.
    7. Nadiya Kostyuk, 2024. "Allies and diffusion of state military cybercapacity," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 61(1), pages 44-58, January.
    8. Jandhyala, Srividya, 2015. "International and domestic dynamics of intellectual property protection," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 284-293.
    9. Thomas Ambrosio & Jakob Tolstrup, 2019. "How do we tell authoritarian diffusion from illusion? Exploring methodological issues of qualitative research on authoritarian diffusion," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(6), pages 2741-2763, November.
    10. Galang, Roberto Martin N., 2014. "Divergent diffusion: Understanding the interaction between institutions, firms, networks and knowledge in the international adoption of technology," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 512-521.
    11. Martin Gassebner & Noel Gaston & Michael J. Lamla, 2011. "The Inverse Domino Effect: Are Economic Reforms Contagious?," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 52(1), pages 183-200, February.
    12. Herbert Brücker & Philipp JH Schröder, 2011. "Migration regulation contagion," European Union Politics, , vol. 12(3), pages 315-335, September.
    13. Alfano, Vincenzo & Ercolano, Salvatore & Pinto, Mauro, 2022. "Fighting the COVID pandemic: National policy choices in non-pharmaceutical interventions," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 22-40.
    14. repec:gig:joupla:v:5:y:2013:i:3:p:97-132 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Edward Anderson & Samuel Obeng, 2021. "Globalisation and government spending: Evidence for the ‘hyper‐globalisation’ of the 1990s and 2000s," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5), pages 1144-1176, May.
    16. Thatcher, Mark, 2009. "Governing markets in Gulf States," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 55279, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Bernauer, Thomas & Kalbhenn, Anna & Koubi, Vally & Ruoff, Gabriele, 2008. "Globalization, Political Regimes and International Environmental Commitment," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Zurich 2008 1, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    18. David Bach & Abraham Newman, 2014. "Domestic drivers of transgovernmental regulatory cooperation," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(4), pages 395-417, December.
    19. Hlaing, Su Wah & Kakinaka, Makoto, 2018. "Financial crisis and financial policy reform: Crisis origins and policy dimensions," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 224-243.
    20. David Benjamin Weyrauch & Christoph Valentin Steinert, 2022. "Instrumental or intrinsic? Human rights alignment in intergovernmental organizations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 89-115, January.
    21. Christian Adam, 2016. "Simulating policy diffusion through learning: Reducing the risk of false positive conclusions," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 28(3), pages 497-519, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jothpo:v:26:y:2014:i:2:p:177-196. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.