Policy Learning Through Transfer - Individuals, Organisations and Network in the Making of Ethiopia’s Industrial Park Programme
The orthodox literature on policy transfer and lesson drawing tends to define and distinguish the mechanism of learning as a more horizontal and rational process. Much ink has been spent on theorising learning in an instrumental fashion, based on the ‘intentionality’ of agents and the updating of in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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2024-09-01
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| Series: | International Review of Public Policy |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/irpp/4338 |
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| author | Jing Zhang |
| author_facet | Jing Zhang |
| author_sort | Jing Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The orthodox literature on policy transfer and lesson drawing tends to define and distinguish the mechanism of learning as a more horizontal and rational process. Much ink has been spent on theorising learning in an instrumental fashion, based on the ‘intentionality’ of agents and the updating of information. Nevertheless, little is known about the actual practices through which learning takes place at both the individual and collective levels. This is particularly true in the case of South-South policy learning which, despite its growing popularity, has remained less explored in mainstream discussions. This article addresses these gaps by conceptualising the mechanism of cross-national policy learning among Southern countries from both the supply side – how various transfer agents facilitate the flow of ideas – and the demand side – how policy-makers receive information and change their ideas. By studying the case of the industrial park programme in Ethiopia, with information drawn from interviews, participant observation, policy documents, news reports, and secondary literature, the article highlights the multiple strategies employed by transfer agents that have facilitated ideational change in the process. It also indicates the ways in which ‘bounded rationality’ operates in policy-making, which has further accelerated a rapid policy transfer from China to Ethiopia. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ce193dbb8fe8450181573c00a44b3854 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2679-3873 2706-6274 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-09-01 |
| publisher | OpenEdition |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Review of Public Policy |
| spelling | doaj-art-ce193dbb8fe8450181573c00a44b38542025-01-09T16:26:14ZengOpenEditionInternational Review of Public Policy2679-38732706-62742024-09-01610.4000/12vzxPolicy Learning Through Transfer - Individuals, Organisations and Network in the Making of Ethiopia’s Industrial Park ProgrammeJing ZhangThe orthodox literature on policy transfer and lesson drawing tends to define and distinguish the mechanism of learning as a more horizontal and rational process. Much ink has been spent on theorising learning in an instrumental fashion, based on the ‘intentionality’ of agents and the updating of information. Nevertheless, little is known about the actual practices through which learning takes place at both the individual and collective levels. This is particularly true in the case of South-South policy learning which, despite its growing popularity, has remained less explored in mainstream discussions. This article addresses these gaps by conceptualising the mechanism of cross-national policy learning among Southern countries from both the supply side – how various transfer agents facilitate the flow of ideas – and the demand side – how policy-makers receive information and change their ideas. By studying the case of the industrial park programme in Ethiopia, with information drawn from interviews, participant observation, policy documents, news reports, and secondary literature, the article highlights the multiple strategies employed by transfer agents that have facilitated ideational change in the process. It also indicates the ways in which ‘bounded rationality’ operates in policy-making, which has further accelerated a rapid policy transfer from China to Ethiopia.https://journals.openedition.org/irpp/4338policy transferpolicy learningSouth-South development cooperationindustrial parkChinaEthiopia |
| spellingShingle | Jing Zhang Policy Learning Through Transfer - Individuals, Organisations and Network in the Making of Ethiopia’s Industrial Park Programme International Review of Public Policy policy transfer policy learning South-South development cooperation industrial park China Ethiopia |
| title | Policy Learning Through Transfer - Individuals, Organisations and Network in the Making of Ethiopia’s Industrial Park Programme |
| title_full | Policy Learning Through Transfer - Individuals, Organisations and Network in the Making of Ethiopia’s Industrial Park Programme |
| title_fullStr | Policy Learning Through Transfer - Individuals, Organisations and Network in the Making of Ethiopia’s Industrial Park Programme |
| title_full_unstemmed | Policy Learning Through Transfer - Individuals, Organisations and Network in the Making of Ethiopia’s Industrial Park Programme |
| title_short | Policy Learning Through Transfer - Individuals, Organisations and Network in the Making of Ethiopia’s Industrial Park Programme |
| title_sort | policy learning through transfer individuals organisations and network in the making of ethiopia s industrial park programme |
| topic | policy transfer policy learning South-South development cooperation industrial park China Ethiopia |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/irpp/4338 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jingzhang policylearningthroughtransferindividualsorganisationsandnetworkinthemakingofethiopiasindustrialparkprogramme |