Theories of Policy Diffusion: Lessons from Latin American Pension Reform

摘要: What accounts for the waves of policy diffusion that increasingly sweep across regions world? Why do many diverse countries adopt similar changes? Focusing on spread Chilean-style pension privatization in Latin America, this article assesses relative merit four theoretical explanations scholars have proposed. As principal mechanism driving innovations' spread, these approaches emphasize external pressures, emanating especially from international financial institutions; quest symbolic or normative legitimacy; rational learning and cost-benefit calculation; cognitive heuristics, respectively. The which one frameworks can best account three distinctive features diffusion, namely its wavelike temporal pattern; geographical clustering; similarity amid diversity. While several contribute to understanding analysis suggests cognitive-psychological framework offers a particularly persuasive reform.