Transnational Policy Innovation—The Role of the Oecd in the Diffusion of Regulatory Impact Analysis

Through three empirical, regulatory impact analysis (RIA) case studies, this volume analyzes the role of the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in policy innovation diffusion, exhibiting the impact of transnational networks on national policy processes. The text's analytical framework showcases the institutional features as well as the internal and international determinants of a policy innovation such as RIA. Drawing on original data sets, case studies measure the extent to which the OECD worked with various governments to adopt, implement, and evaluate RIA.

"Transnational Policy Innovation" underscores the usefulness of concepts of policy innovation diffusion for understanding the dynamics of transnational governance. The volume calls attention to the OECD's success in framing and diffusing a template of evidence-based decision making, yet it downplays RIA as an instrument of political control, noting its limiting influence on the OECD's peer review and comparative indicators within institutional and administratives settings.

Fabrizio De Francesco is a lecturer at the School of Government and Public Policy, University of Strathclyde. After completing his Ph.D. in politics at the University of Exeter, he served as a Marie Curie research fellow at the University of Zurich and as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Lausanne. He has also been involved in several national and international projects on regulatory impact analysis. His research interests focus on comparative public policy, regulatory governance, and policy diffusion. His publications include, with Claudio M. Radaelli, Regulatory Quality in Europe: Concepts, Measures, and Policy Processes, and several papers for international journals such as Comparative Political Studies, Journal of European Public Policy, and Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis.