Policy Imitation Based on Similarities: The Diffusion of Public–Private Partnerships

ABSTRACT

Policy imitation likely occurs among similar jurisdictions. The extant literature primarily focuses on geographic proximity or ideological congruence, while overlooking multifaceted similarities in the diffusion of public policies. This study explores the adoption and spread of public–private partnerships (PPP) across China's cities, specifically examining the extent to which three distinctive similarity measures influence PPP policy imitation. In addition to geographic proximity and economic resemblance, equivalent positioning in China's administrative hierarchy captures a managerial aspect of similarity to understand policy imitation among resembling cities. Three corresponding spatial autoregressive panel models are used, respectively. The findings suggest that cities in China imitate their geographic, economic, and administrative peers while directing PPP investments. Relative closeness in the administrative hierarchy of cities exerts a greater influence on policy imitation than economic resemblance and spatial proximity.