Feature Analysis and Impact Mechanism of Policy Diffusion from a Policy Citation Function Perspective

Understanding the characteristics and impact mechanisms of policy diffusion is crucial for facilitating policy dissemination, enhancing existing policy systems, and optimizing subsequent policy design. As an observable, recordable, and traceable imprint of inter-governmental interactions and adoption responses, policy citations are an important tool for scrutinizing the process, characteristics, and mechanisms of policy diffusion. Using ICT policies released by the Chinese government from 1994 to 2021 as a sample, we constructed a framework for citation functions of policy documents based on the academic citation classification system. This framework aimed to explore how citation interaction patterns among policy documents shape and influence policy diffusion. First, we identified and extracted citation linkages embedded in policy textual contents, annotating citation function patterns. Second, we unveiled differences in speed, intensity, breadth, innovativeness, and continuity of policy diffusion under various citation function patterns. Finally, we investigated the impact mechanisms of citation function patterns. The effects of early citation patterns on subsequent diffusion and their predictive ability for long-term diffusion are also analyzed. Policy diffusion features such as speed, breadth, intensity, and innovativeness exhibited heterogeneity while continuity differences were not significant. Citation function patterns and frequency significantly influenced the process and characteristics of policy diffusion. Early citation patterns of policies had a significant impact on subsequent diffusion and demonstrated a certain predictive ability for the long-term impact and patterns of policy diffusion.