Implementation of Dolowitz and Marsh's Policy Transfer Theory in Analyzing Cross-National Adoption of Public Service Innovation Policies

Abstract

In an era of accelerating globalization and transnational governance networks, the cross-national transfer of public policies—including innovations in public service delivery—has become a ubiquitous feature of administrative reform. Dolowitz and Marsh's (1996, 2000) policy transfer framework provides one of the most comprehensive analytical tools for examining who transfers what from whom, under what conditions, and with what outcomes. This study implements the Dolowitz-Marsh framework to analyze the adoption of public service innovation policies in Indonesian regional governments, focusing on three case studies: the implementation of single window service (pelayanan terpadu satu pintu/PTSP), e-government digital service portals, and complaint management systems. Employing a qualitative comparative case study design with embedded quantitative performance analysis, the study examines policy transfer processes in six Indonesian regional governments that adopted these innovations from international best practice contexts between 2015 and 2023. Document analysis (n = 187 policy documents), semi-structured interviews with 48 government officials, and performance metric analysis reveal that transfer success is strongly mediated by transfer completeness, local contextual adaptation, and institutional capacity—with incomplete or coercive transfers demonstrating systematically lower implementation quality. The findings extend the Dolowitz-Marsh framework by integrating post-New Public Management perspectives and proposing a contextual policy transfer model suited to decentralized developing-country governance contexts.

Keywords: policy transfer; Dolowitz and Marsh; public service innovation; e-government; Indonesia; comparative public administration; institutional capacity; policy adoption