What causes a government to adopt a new program or policy? Despite a large number of empirical studies available to date, the relative importance of various determinants remains obscure because of difficulties of statistical identification. We present an experimental setting to study the diffusion of policy innovations in the laboratory. Our approach discriminates between experimentation, experience, and emulation as determinants of policy adoption. The policy innovation we study is an internalization tax to mitigate a local market externality. Our results demonstrate the importance of information about innovations in other states in the diffusion of policy innovations.
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Find related papers by JEL classification: C9 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
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