Local private actors in transnational policy networks: A relational approach to studying policy transfers in Asia

Many documented cases of policy transfer in Asia involve small and medium enterprises as well as public enterprises but little is known about how and why these local private actors participate in transnational policy transfer networks. We propose a relational view of policy transfer to examine how agency is exercised in these kinds of transfer networks. We develop a typology of the engagement of these private actors—solutionist and entrepreneur—based on their relational position in the policy transfer process and illustrate its usefulness using two cases of policy transfer between: (1) Yokohama (Japan) and Cebu (Philippines) and (2) Singapore and New Clark City (Philippines). A common theme in these networks is the diffused nature of agency where local private actors are pulled in to provide epistemic resources.