The institutionalization and effectiveness of transnational policy transfer: The China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park as a case study
| Published date | 01 August 2021 |
| Author | Hong Liu,Ting‐Yan Wang |
| Date | 01 August 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1956 |
Received: 17 August 2020
-
Revised: 13 May 2021
-
Accepted: 15 July 2021
DOI: 10.1002/pad.1956
RESEARCH ARTICLE
The institutionalization and effectiveness of transnational
policy transfer: The China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park
as a case study
Hong Liu
1
|Ting‐Yan Wang
2
1
School of Social Sciences and Nanyang Centre
for Public Administration, Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore
2
School of Social Sciences, Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore
Correspondence
Ting‐Yan WANG, Nanyang Technological
University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore
639798, Singapore.
Email: tywang@ntu.edu.sg
Funding information
Singapore Ministry of Education AcRF Tier 2,
Grant/Award Number: MOE2016‐T2‐02‐87;
Nanyang Technological University, Grant/
Award Number: 04INS000132C430;
04INS000136C430
Abstract
Transnational policy transfer through cross‐border government‐to‐government
collaboration projects has been widely adopted as a tool to facilitate economic
growth, especially by developing countries. Why did some transnational projects of
policy transfer succeed while others fail? What are the facilitating and constraining
factors in shaping their fates? What are their theoretical and policy implications for
public administration and economic development in a globalizing world? This article
examines the case of the China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park which has been in
operation since its establishment in 1994. Challenging the previous studies and
adopting a mixed research method utilizing a wide range of quantitative and
qualitative data, we identify three major factors affecting the results of policy
transfer: (1) a systemic combination of “hardware” and “software” in the concep-
tualization of transnational policy transfer; (2) localization of transnational policy
and its enforcement; and mostly importantly, (3) institutionalization of key pro-
cesses in both ends of policy exchanges and implementation.
KEYWORDS
China, industrial park, institutionalization, localization, Singapore, transnational policy transfer
1
|
INTRODUCTION
While globalization has provided substantial benefits to the world, it
has also contributed to common challenges faced different nations,
such as growing inequality, environmental deterioration, and public
health crises (as evidenced by the Covid‐19 pandemic), thus high-
lighting the importance of policy‐oriented learning across space in
order to effectively confront these challenges.
Transnational policy transfer takes various forms, with
government‐to‐government collaboration constituting a major one.
Since 1979, China transformed from a planned to market economy
by launching the Reform and Opening‐up, with Singapore becoming a
key role model (Liu & Wang, 2018; Ortmann & Thompson, 2014). A
number of national collaboration projects were established, making
Singapore the largest foreign direct investor in China since 2014. The
China–Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) was launched in 1994
as the flagship project, followed by the Sino‐Singapore Tianjin Eco‐
city in 2007, Sino‐Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City in 2010,
and Chongqing Connectivity Initiative in 2015. They heralded some
new directions in incorporating public governance with economic
development in the emerging framework of transnational policy
transfer.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial‐NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any
medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
© 2021 The Authors. Public Administration and Development published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Public Admin Dev. 2021;41:103–114. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pad
-
103
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
