Hofem, A., & Heilmann, S. ( 2013 ). Bringing the low-carbon agenda to China: a study in transnational policy diffusion. Journal Of Current Chinese Affairs, 42(1), pp. 199-215. Retrieved November 29, 2013, from http://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jcca/article/view/596
Abstract
This study traces the transnational interactions that contributed to introducing the low-carbon economy agenda into Chinese policymaking. A microprocessual two-level analysis (outside-in as well as inside-access) is employed to analyse transnational and domestic exchanges. The study provides evidence that low-carbon agenda-setting – introduced by transnational actors, backed by foreign funding, promoted by policy entrepreneurs from domestic research institutes, propelled by top-level attention, but only gradually and cautiously adopted by the government bureaucracy – can be considered a case of effective transnational diffusion based on converging perceptions of novel policy challenges and options. Opinion leaders and policy-brokers from the government-linked scientific community functioned as effective access points to the Chinese government’s policy agenda.
