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Topic · Political Science and International Relations

Policy Transfer and Learning

Policy Transfer and Learning is a research topic within Political Science and International Relations. Science Explorer counts 6.4k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the global diffusion of public policies, focusing on the mechanisms, networks, and processes involved in policy transfer and convergence across different countries and regions. It delves into the role of advocacy coalitions, learning from other countries, and the impact of globalization on shaping public policies. The cluster also examines the influence of institutional isomorphism, narrative frameworks, and cross-national convergence in the context of international relations.

  • Policy Transfer
  • Globalization
  • Advocacy Coalition Framework
  • Learning
  • Diffusion Mechanisms
  • International Relations
  • Public Policy Networks
  • Institutional Isomorphism
  • Cross-National Convergence
  • Narrative Policy Framework
Research works
6.4k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
651
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+12%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
40% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Policy Transfer and Learning

Which countries lead Policy Transfer and Learning research?

By volume, the United States and Germany publish the most (458 and 134 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 458 works
  2. 2 Germany 134 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 117 works
  4. 4 China 103 works
  5. 5 Netherlands 68 works
  6. 6 Canada 60 works
  7. 7 Brazil 55 works
  8. 8 Australia 52 works
  9. 9 Switzerland 45 works
  10. 10 Italy 44 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 40.3%Germany: 11.8%United Kingdom: 10.3%China: 9.0%6 others listed: 28.5%40%largest
United States458 · 40.3%Germany134 · 11.8%United Kingdom117 · 10.3%China103 · 9.0%6 others listed324 · 28.5%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Policy Transfer and Learning research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Policy Transfer and Learning research, followed by University of Bern and Leiden University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 12 works
  2. 2 University of BernSwitzerland 11 works
  3. 3 Leiden UniversityNetherlands 11 works
  4. 4 University of OsloNorway 10 works
  5. 5 University of Colorado DenverUnited States 9 works
  6. 6 Simon Fraser UniversityCanada 9 works
  7. 7 University of LausanneSwitzerland 9 works
  8. 8 Ghent UniversityBelgium 9 works
  9. 9 University of California, BerkeleyUnited States 9 works
  10. 10 Aarhus UniversityDenmark 9 works

Who are the leading researchers in Policy Transfer and Learning?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Policy Transfer and Learning include Martin McKee and Элинор Остром.

  1. 1 Martin McKee United Kingdom 270k citations
  2. 2 Элинор Остром United States 149k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Policy Transfer and Learning?

The most cited paper in Policy Transfer and Learning is "Understanding Interaction Models: Improving Empirical Analyses" (Thomas Brambor, William R. Clark, Matt Golder, 2005), with 6,266 citations. Next come "An advocacy coalition framework of policy change and the role of policy-oriented learning therein" (3,569) and "Learning from Abroad: The Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy‐Making" (3,272).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Understanding Interaction Models: Improving Empirical Analyses Thomas Brambor, William R. Clark, Matt Golder · Political Analysis 18 May 2005 6,266
2 An advocacy coalition framework of policy change and the role of policy-oriented learning therein Paul Sabatier · Policy Sciences 1988 3,569
3 Learning from Abroad: The Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy‐Making David Peter Dolowitz, David D. Marsh · Governance 2000 3,272
4 When Effect Becomes Cause: Policy Feedback and Political Change Paul Pierson · World Politics Jul 1993 2,564
5 Who Learns What from Whom: A Review of the Policy Transfer Literature David Peter Dolowitz, David D. Marsh · Political Studies Jun 1996 2,107
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Policy Transfer and Learning research done?

The largest centres of Policy Transfer and Learning research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), Beijing (China), Oslo (Norway) and Washington D.C. (United States).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 28 works
  2. 2 BeijingChina 25 works
  3. 3 OsloNorway 19 works
  4. 4 Washington D.C.United States 18 works
  5. 5 BerlinGermany 14 works
  6. 6 New YorkUnited States 14 works
  7. 7 ParisFrance 14 works
  8. 8 BernSwitzerland 13 works
  9. 9 São PauloBrazil 13 works
  10. 10 SeoulSouth Korea 13 works
See Policy Transfer and Learning on the map

Where is the best place to study Policy Transfer and Learning?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Bern, Leiden University and University of Lausanne score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 20.4%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of Colora…University of LausanneLeiden UniversityUniversity of Bern
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of BernSwitzerland 82.315.4%14.9×11 +62.7%
2Leiden UniversityNetherlands 76.819.1%13.9×11 +33.6%
3University of LausanneSwitzerland 71.824.6%14.4×9 +41.8%
4University of Colorado DenverUnited States 69.929.4%20.3×9 +14.3%
5Simon Fraser UniversityCanada 69.917.7%24.1×9 +6.9%
6European University InstituteItaly 66.229.2%78.8×8 +200.3%
7Ghent UniversityBelgium 61.524.1%8.4×9 +101.7%
8Utrecht UniversityNetherlands 61.030.3%8.2×8 +13.2%
9University of OsloNorway 50.69.5%11.3×10 -12.5%
10Aarhus UniversityDenmark 33.74.7%7.2×9 +18.2%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Policy Transfer and Learning, country by country

Is Policy Transfer and Learning research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 12% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Policy Transfer and Learning.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Policy Transfer and Learning as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0054% in 2024.

still counting0.0050%0.010%Policy Transfer and Learning0.0070% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Policy Transfer and Learning over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Policy Transfer and Learning10.1% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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