The Korea Local Administration Review

Network externalities can significantly influence policy diffusion processes.However, previous policy diffusion studies have not considered the influence ofnetwork externalities that can occur during policy diffusion processes.Therefore, this study’s critical contribution is that it provides theoreticalfoundations and a research model to more systematically and reasonably assessand address the dynamicity of policy diffusion related to network externalitiesthat existing studies have overlooked. This study first incorporates networkexternalities into a policy diffusion process and builds a policy diffusion modelconsisting of three stages of policy diffusion focused on policy adoption: aninitial stage, a consideration stage, and an adoption stage. The second sectionaddresses the fundamental characteristics of policy diffusion. The third sectionsuggests research agendas for future studies. The agendas emphasize thesignificance of policy decision makers’ perception, information accessibility, softorganizing actions, dynamic diffusion modes, strategic network power, andtransaction costs in the three stages of policy diffusion process. The authorshope that future studies will actively involve the systematic examination ofnetwork externalities’ influence on policy diffusion.
□ Keywords : Policy Diffusion, Network Externalities, Strategic Network Power