Adding ‘origination’ to diffusion theory: contrasting the roles of China and the EU in green finance

Mathias Larsen

Review of International Political Economy, 2023, vol. 30, issue 4, 1203-1219

Abstract: The diffusion of liberal economic ideas has been challenged by three global shifts: a bipolar tilt, nationalism, and climate change. One consequence is that policy norms are originating from new places and carry new content. To date, diffusion theory in International Political Economy (IPE) explains how liberal policy norms spread through ‘adaptation’ to local circumstances, but less why they diffuse from particular origins. The three global shifts make a focus on origins critical. I propose integrating Comparative Political Economy (CPE) into diffusion theory to capture the forces and conditions shaping policy norm ‘origination’. Analyzing the global proliferation of green finance policies, I show how China’s closed capital account and state-controlled financial system combined with a state-led and experimentation-prone governance system creates a top-down market-steering approach that makes China a pioneer of policy instruments. Second, I show how the EU’s global economic position, its independent central bank, and a negotiated and consultative governance system create a bottom-up market-facilitating approach that makes the EU a standard-setter of policy content. Adding origination creates a path forward for diffusion theory, exploring how certain political economy traits create roles in the diffusion process and how this impacts the diffusion mechanisms and adaptation processes emphasized today.

Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09692290.2023.2204532 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:rripxx:v:30:y:2023:i:4:p:1203-1219

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/rrip20

DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2023.2204532

Access Statistics for this article

Review of International Political Economy is currently edited by Gregory Chin, Juliet Johnson, Daniel Mügge, Kevin Gallagher, Ilene Grabel and Cornelia Woll

More articles in Review of International Political Economy from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().