The effects of policy learning from non-Chinese greenhouse gas emissions trading experiences and policies on China's endeavour to establish a national emissions trading system

This doctoral research project deals with the questions of ‘why’ and ‘how’ policies spread around the world, and, in particular with the questions whether, why and how countries like China learn from policy experiences of other countries. Learning from other countries’ policy experiences is identified as a causal mechanism (intervening variable) that connects policy experiences around the world (i.e. the cause or independent variable) and policy adaptation or adoption by countries (i.e. the outcome or dependent variable). This doctoral research project will examine the causal effects of policy learning in the case of emissions trading diffusion to China.This doctoral research project will attempt to answer the research questions: how and why does China learn from non-Chinese greenhouse gas emissions trading experiences and policies? Literature on policy diffusion, policy transfer, policy learning and policy experimentation has been reviewed to develop the doctoral research project proposal’s analytical framework. To answer the questions of whether, why and how policy learning affects China’ domestic policy-making cycle, the proposed project will attempt to further conceptualize and operationalize policy learning and thus analytically contribute to the existing literature on policy diffusion, transfer, learning and experimentation.