Ideas Are Transformed as They Transfer: A Comparative Study of Eco-Taxation in Scandinavia

In: Journal of European public policy, Band 14, Heft 1, S. 59-77

Abstract

In this article, insights from diverging institutional perspectives on the concept of ideas are integrated into a sequential analysis of mechanisms of transfer & transformation. The analysis of the introduction of eco-taxation into two policy sectors in the Scandinavian countries shows that, as the idea of eco-taxation transfers, a well-known instrument can be framed as rational & legitimate, & policy-makers 'hook' on to the idea in order to solve problems with institutionalized areas of responsibility. In this way, what at one point may be regarded as a virus-like attack of a regulatory idea is influenced by the more stable configuration of administrative bias & organized interests when transformed into actual regulation. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.