Frame diffusion and institutional choice in regional economic cooperation
Frame diffusion and institutional choice in regional economic cooperation
复制标题
区域经济合作中的框架扩散与制度选择
作者：
Tobias Lenz
为什么许多区域组织采用共同市场和关税同盟？本文提出了一种认知扩散机制--框架扩散--来解释结构不同背景下的趋同制度选择。利用Strang和Meyer(1993)的“理论化”概念，将框架的基础性工作与有关扩散的文献相结合，我认为理论化的过程将成功的制度创新者的经验转化为抽象的认知图式，后者将对合作问题的特定理解与具体的制度解决方案联系起来。由于其他情况下的政策制定者遇到了类似的合作问题，他们采用了框架式的体制解决方案，这导致了宏观一级的体制趋同。我进一步认为，这种框架扩散的过程是以创新组织和其他区域组织之间在社会目的上的概念亲和力为条件的。当其他组织追求不同的社会目标时，政策制定者依赖于替代框架，从而巩固制度差异。在从理论上发展了这一论点之后，我通过三个最不同的区域组织：东南亚国家联盟、南方共同市场和南部非洲发展共同体的制度选择的探索性比较来说明这一论点。这一论点指出了显著的扩散机制之间存在显著的“盲点”和概念上的互补。
Why have many regional organizations adopted common markets and customs unions? This article proposes a cognitive diffusion mechanism – termed frame diffusion – to explain convergent institutional choices across structurally diverse settings. Using Strang and Meyer’s (1993) notion of ‘theorization’ to combine foundational work on framing with the literature on diffusion, I argue that processes of theorization transform the experience of successful institutional innovators into abstract cognitive schemas, which link a particular understanding of a cooperation problem to specific institutional solutions. As policymakers in other contexts encounter similar cooperation problems, they adopt framed institutional solutions, which results in institutional convergence at the macro level. I further suggest that this process of frame diffusion is conditional on ideational affinities in social purpose between the innovating organization and other regional organizations. Where other organizations pursue a distinct social purpose, policymakers rely on alternative frames and thereby cement institutional variation. After developing this argument theoretically, I illustrate it in an exploratory comparison of institutional choice in three most different regional organizations: Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Common Market of the South, and the Southern African Development Community. The argument points to significant ‘blind spots’ and conceptual complementarity between prominent mechanisms of diffusion.