The Global Diffusion of Education Privatization: Unpacking and Theorizing Policy Adoption
Abstract
Due to the global dimension it is acquiring, education privatization is a suitable phenomenon to look at from a policy diffusion perspective. Nevertheless, the dominant approaches to policy diffusion (namely, rationalism and normative emulation) are not sufficiently well-equipped to explain the current dynamics of globalization of education privatization in its complexity. In this chapter, on the basis of theoretical currents like critical constructivism and cultural political economy, I elaborate an alternative approach that focuses on “policy adoption” as the entry point to the study of policy diffusion dynamics. This approach contributes to explaining the global expansion of education privatization policies (as well as other global education policies) by unpacking the most relevant mechanisms that constitute policy adoption (namely, variation, selection, and retention) and paying attention at variables (i.e. the role of ideas and multi-scalar interactions) that are often neglected in mainstream policy diffusion literature.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Reductions in public funding and a widely spread request towards privatization of research and education led to a departure from the ivory tower and to a global valorization of universities from a business and industry perspective.
“Together with reductions in public funding, a widely spread request towards privatization of research and education took place (Verger 2016).This led to a departure from the ivory tower and to a global valorization of universities from a business and industry perspective.”
From Transdisciplinarity: science for and with society in light of the university’s roles and functions (2020) · cites this paper as Verger 2016
Cites
Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony
Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/226550 · Cited by 28,308 · see citing works
Policy paradigms, social learning, and the state: The case of economic policymaking in Britain
Hall, P. A. (1993) · Comparative Politics · doi:10.2307/422246 · Cited by 7,369 · see citing works
World Society and the Nation‐State
Meyer, J. W., Boli, J., THOMAS, G. M., & Ramírez, F. O. (1997) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/231174 · Cited by 4,694 · see citing works
Learning from Abroad: The Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy‐Making
Dolowitz, D. P., & Marsh, D. (2000) · Governance · doi:10.1111/0952-1895.00121 · Cited by 3,314 · see citing works
“Let's Argue!”: Communicative Action in World Politics
Risse, T. (2000) · International Organization · doi:10.1162/002081800551109 · Cited by 2,497 · see citing works
The Institutional Dynamics of International Political Orders
March, J., & Olsen, J. P. (1998) · International Organization · doi:10.1162/002081898550699 · Cited by 2,396 · see citing works
The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy
(2008) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199548453.001.0001 · Cited by 1,664 · see citing works
Schmidt, V. A. (2010) · European Political Science Review · doi:10.1017/s175577390999021x · Cited by 1,616 · see citing works
Institutional Change and Globalization
Campbell, J. L. (2004) · Princeton University Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9780691216348 · Cited by 1,475 · see citing works
The Global Diffusion of Public Policies: Social Construction, Coercion, Competition, or Learning?
Dobbin, F. R., Simmons, B., & Garrett, G. (2007) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.33.090106.142507 · Cited by 1,383 · see citing works
Ball, S. J. (2012) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203803301 · Cited by 1,300 · see citing works
World Expansion of Mass Education, 1870-1980
Meyer, J. W., Ramírez, F. O., & Soysal, Y. N. (1992) · Sociology of Education · doi:10.2307/2112679 · Cited by 1,028 · see citing works
Explaining Society: Critical Realism in the Social Sciences
Danermark, B., Ekström, M., & Karlsson, J. C. (2001) · Cited by 969 · see citing works
Motivation, Agency, and Public Policy
Grand, J. L. (2003) · doi:10.1093/0199266999.001.0001 · Cited by 925 · see citing works
The global politics of educational borrowing and lending
Steiner‐Khamsi, G., & Popkewitz, T. S. (2004) · Teachers College Press eBooks · Cited by 891 · see citing works
Finnemore, M., & Sikkink, K. (2001) · Annual Review of Political Science · doi:10.1146/annurev.polisci.4.1.391 · Cited by 844 · see citing works
Global Education Inc.: New Policy Networks and the Neoliberal Imaginary
Ball, S. J. (2012) · Cited by 800 · see citing works
Explaining Society, Critical Realism in the Social Sciences
Castro, F. W. (2002) · Acta Sociologica · doi:10.1177/000169930204500313 · Cited by 793 · see citing works
Ball, S. J. (2007) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203964200 · Cited by 703 · see citing works
Globalization and Policy Convergence
Drezner, D. W. (2001) · International Studies Review · doi:10.1111/1521-9488.00225 · Cited by 689 · see citing works
Education plc: Understanding Private Sector Participation in Public Sector Education
Ball, S. J. (2007) · Cited by 586 · see citing works
Theories of Policy Diffusion Lessons from Latin American Pension Reform
Weyland, K. G. (2005) · World Politics · doi:10.1353/wp.2005.0019 · Cited by 573 · see citing works
Processes of Policy Borrowing in Education: some explanatory and analytical devices
Phillips, D. R., & Ochs, K. (2003) · Comparative Education · doi:10.1080/0305006032000162020 · Cited by 565 · see citing works
Buzzwords and fuzzwords: deconstructing development discourse
Cornwall, A. (2007) · Development in Practice · doi:10.1080/09614520701469302 · Cited by 556 · see citing works
Introduction: Cross-national policy convergence: concepts, approaches and explanatory factors
Knill, C. (2005) · Journal of European Public Policy · doi:10.1080/13501760500161332 · Cited by 556 · see citing works
Cultural political economy and critical policy studies
Jessop, B. (2010) · Critical Policy Studies · doi:10.1080/19460171003619741 · Cited by 534 · see citing works
Dale, R. (2000) · Educational Theory · doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.2000.00427.x · Cited by 413 · see citing works
Bruns, B., Filmer, D., & Patrinos, H. (2011) · World Bank Publications · doi:10.1596/978-0-8213-8679-8 · Cited by 379 · see citing works
GATS and the Education Service Industry: The Politics of Scale and Global Reterritorialization
Robertson, S. L., Bonal, X., & Dale, R. (2002) · Comparative Education Review · doi:10.1086/343122 · Cited by 341 · see citing works
World Yearbook of Education 2012
(2012) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203137628 · Cited by 319 · see citing works
Ubiquity and Legitimacy: Disentangling Diffusion and Institutionalization
Colyvas, J. A., & Jonsson, S. (2011) · Sociological Theory · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9558.2010.01386.x · Cited by 309 · see citing works
Education and the Knowledge-Based Economy in Europe
Jessop, B., Fairclough, N. L., & Wodak, R. (2008) · BRILL eBooks · doi:10.1163/9789087906245 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
Robertson*, S. L. (2005) · Comparative Education · doi:10.1080/03050060500150922 · Cited by 283 · see citing works
The Privatization of Education: A Political Economy of Global Education Reform
Fried, S. (2017) · Harvard Educational Review · doi:10.17763/1943-5045-87.3.447 · Cited by 269 · see citing works
Towards a ‘critical cultural political economy’ account of the globalising of education
Robertson, S. L., & Dale, R. (2014) · Globalisation Societies and Education · doi:10.1080/14767724.2014.967502 · Cited by 229 · see citing works
Verger, A. (2011) · Journal of Education Policy · doi:10.1080/02680939.2011.623242 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Self-citationEducational Multilateralism and World (Dis)Order
Mundy, K. (1998) · Comparative Education Review · doi:10.1086/447523 · Cited by 207 · see citing works
Between Faith and Science:World Culture Theory and Comparative Education
Carney, S., Rappleye, J., & Silova, I. (2012) · Comparative Education Review · doi:10.1086/665708 · Cited by 184 · see citing works
Recombinant workfare, across the Americas: Transnationalizing “fast” social policy
Peck, J., & Theodore, N. (2010) · Geoforum · doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2010.01.001 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
Rational Learning and Bounded Learning in the Diffusion of Policy Innovations
Meseguer, C. (2006) · Rationality and Society · doi:10.1177/1043463106060152 · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Charter School Policy, Implementation, and Diffusion Across the United States
Renzulli, L. A., & Roscigno, V. J. (2005) · Sociology of Education · doi:10.1177/003804070507800404 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
Hay, C. (2001) · Princeton University Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9780691188225-012 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Neo-liberalism and universal state education: the cases of Denmark, Norway and Sweden 1980–2011
Wiborg, S. (2012) · Comparative Education · doi:10.1080/03050068.2012.700436 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Verger, A., & Curran, M. (2014) · Critical Studies in Education · doi:10.1080/17508487.2014.913531 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Self-citationMaroy, C. (2008) · Compare A Journal of Comparative and International Education · doi:10.1080/03057920801903472 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
The EU and Bologna: are supra‐ and international initiatives threatening domestic agendas?*
Huisman, J., & van der Wende, M. (2004) · European Journal of Education · doi:10.1111/j.1465-3435.2004.00188.x · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Political preferences and public sector outsourcing
Elinder, M., & Jordahl, H. (2013) · European Journal of Political Economy · doi:10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2013.01.003 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
The Idea of Power and the Role of Ideas
Béland, D. (2009) · Political Studies Review · doi:10.1111/j.1478-9302.2009.00199.x · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Intermediary Organizations in Charter School Policy Coalitions
DeBray, E. H., Scott, J. T., Lubienski, C., & Jabbar, H. (2014) · Educational Policy · doi:10.1177/0895904813514132 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
World yearbook of education 2012: policy borrowing and lending in education
Morris, P. (2013) · Comparative Education · doi:10.1080/03050068.2013.773234 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
9. Translating Liberalization: Neoliberalism in the Danish Negotiated Economy
Kjær, P., & Pedersen, O. K. (2001) · Princeton University Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9780691188225-013 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
The Politics of Research Production, Promotion, and Utilization in Educational Policy
Lubienski, C., Scott, J. T., & DeBray, E. H. (2014) · Educational Policy · doi:10.1177/0895904813515329 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Understanding Policy Borrowing and Lending: Building Comparative Policy Studies
Schulte, B. (2012) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203137628-8 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
School Vouchers and the New Politics of the Welfare State
Klitgaard, M. B. (2008) · Governance · doi:10.1111/j.1468-0491.2008.00410.x · Cited by 86 · see citing works
The Institutional Landscape of Interest Group Politics and School Choice
DeBray-Pelot, E., Lubienski, C., & Scott, J. T. (2007) · Peabody Journal of Education · doi:10.1080/01619560701312947 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
The New Development Economics: After the Washington Consensus
Hutchinson, F. E. (2006) · Southeast Asian Economies · doi:10.1355/ae23-3g · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Verger, A. (2014) · Current Issues in Comparative Education · doi:10.52214/cice.v16i2.11489 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Self-citationInterest groups and the State in contemporary Spanish education policy
Bonal, X. (2000) · Journal of Education Policy · doi:10.1080/026809300285908 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Lejano, R. P., & Shankar, S. (2012) · Policy Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11077-012-9163-9 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Fitz, J., & Beers, B. (2002) · Comparative Education · doi:10.1080/03050060220140548 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
The Globalisation of Education: Finnish education on the doorstep of the new EU millennium
Rinne, R. (2000) · Educational Review · doi:10.1080/713664043 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
GATS and the Education Service Industry: The Politics of Scale and Global Reterritorialization
Robertson, Bonal, & Dale (2002) · Comparative Education Review · doi:10.2307/3542181 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Edwards, D. B. (2012) · Comparative Education Review · doi:10.1086/668481 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
The Politics of Privatization in American Education
Boyd, W. L. (2007) · Educational Policy · doi:10.1177/0895904806297728 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Significant Trends in the Development of Finnish Teacher Training Education Programs (1860-2010)
Uusiautti, S., & Määttä, K. (2013) · Education Policy Analysis Archives · doi:10.14507/epaa.v21n59.2013 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Olmedo, A., & Grau, E. S. C. (2013) · Education Inquiry · doi:10.3402/edui.v4i3.22618 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Privatization and Education for All: Unravelling the mobilizing frames
Srivastava, P. (2010) · Development · doi:10.1057/dev.2010.88 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
The Rise of School Choice in Education Funding Reform
Windle, J. (2014) · Educational Policy · doi:10.1177/0895904813513151 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Global Education Policy and International Development
Robertson, S. L. (2012) · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Atasay, E., & Delavan, G. (2012) · Journal of Education Policy · doi:10.1080/02680939.2012.662284 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Transdisciplinarity: science for and with society in light of the university’s roles and functions
Scholz, R. W. (2020) · Sustainability Science · doi:10.1007/s11625-020-00794-x · Cited by 105 · see citing works
“Together with reductions in public funding, a widely spread request towards privatization of research and education took place (Verger 2016).”
BackgroundParcerisa, L., & Falabella, A. (2017) · Education Policy Analysis Archives · doi:10.14507/epaa.25.3177 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
The Seduction of Hyper-Surveillance : Standards, Testing, and Accountability
Falabella, A. (2020) · Educational Administration Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0013161x20912299 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
“These ideas circulate across multiple spheres, such as state institutions, Universities, think tanks, and international organizations, forming global and local epistemic communities and an ideational atmosphere from which policies emerge (Verger, 2016).”
BackgroundSuccessful and effective schools: Bridging the gap
Pashiardis, P., & Johansson, O. (2020) · Educational Management Administration & Leadership · doi:10.1177/1741143220932585 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
“Education systems are micro-political systems and, in this regard, they represent the culture and values of real people on the ground (Verger, 2016).”
BackgroundThe increasing role of non-State actors in education policy-making. Evidence from Uruguay
Moschetti, M. C., Martínez-Pons, M., Bordoli, E., & Martinis, P. (2019) · Journal of Education Policy · doi:10.1080/02680939.2018.1562569 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
“…2012), new non-state actors are beginning to gain importance in terms of promotion, diffusion and formulation of education privatisation policies, thus challenging the States’ traditional central role as policy-makers (Fontdevila, Avelar, and Verger 2018; Saltman 2009; Scott 2009; Verger 2016).”
BackgroundPagès, M., & Egido, M. P. (2020) · Educational Review · doi:10.1080/00131911.2020.1803795 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Introduction: Researching the Global Education Industry
Thompson, C., & do Amaral, M. P. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-04236-3_1 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Global out-of-home childcare and world culture
Ulybina, O. (2022) · International Journal of Comparative Sociology · doi:10.1177/00207152221110090 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Parcerisa, L. (2016) · Revista Educación Política y Sociedad · doi:10.15366/reps2016.1.2.001 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“…ni unidireccionales, sino que más bien se trata de “procesos multiescalares” y complejos donde los factores ideacionales o semióticos (Verger, 2016), junto con las características económicas, administrativas, políticas y culturales del país o región (Ball, 1998), ejercen un…”
BackgroundErfurth, M. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-04236-3_9 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Edwards, D. B., Moschetti, M. C., & Caravaca, A. (2020) · Discourse Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education · doi:10.1080/01596306.2020.1852181 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“With few exceptions, research in the field of comparative and international education regularly discusses the role of governmental or ‘State’ actors without questioning what the State is exactly.1 Rather than explore State theory, recent decades have witnessed a preoccupation with defining globalization, conceptualizi…”
BackgroundPlataformas y digitalización de la educación pública: Explorando su adopción en Cataluña
Jacovkis, J., Parcerisa, L., Calderón-Garrido, D., & Moreno-González, A. (2023) · Education Policy Analysis Archives · doi:10.14507/epaa.31.7917 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Turienzo, D., Egido, M. P., Manso, J., & Thoilliez, B. (2022) · Revista Española de Educación Comparada · doi:10.5944/reec.42.2023.34310 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Inova Educação na rede estadual paulista: programa empresarial para formação do novo trabalhador
Goulart, D. C., & Alencar, F. (2021) · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · doi:10.9771/gmed.v13i1.43759 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Falabella, A. (2021) · Education Policy Analysis Archives · doi:10.14507/epaa.29.5266 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
OECD, PISA and the Educationalization of the World: The Case of the Southern Cone Countries
Acosta, F. M. (2019) · Global histories of education · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-33799-5_9 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Teachers’ perceptions of national large-scale assessment: the pedagogical dimension
Elyashiv, R. A., & Avidov‐Ungar, O. (2023) · Educational Review · doi:10.1080/00131911.2023.2256996 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Mitchell, D. E., & Romero, L. S. (2013) · doi:10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0129 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Bandyopadhyay, S., & Sharma, A. (2022) · Studies in Microeconomics · doi:10.1177/23210222221111653 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Why Did Portugal Enter PISA? Divergent Political Views, the National Agenda and the OECD Push
Lopo, T. T., Teodoro, A., & Borges, L. (2024) · European Education · doi:10.1080/10564934.2023.2299940 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Privatización de la política educativa y gobernanza en red en la República Dominicana
Caravaca, A., Moschetti, M. C., & Edwards, D. B. (2021) · Education Policy Analysis Archives · doi:10.14507/epaa.29.6421 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Usos de la educación comparada en América Latina
Acosta, F. M. (2019) · RBEC - Revista Brasileira de Educação Comparada · doi:10.20396/rbec.v1i0.9911 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
World Culture, Education, and Organization
Choi, M., D’Apice, H. K., Skinner, N. A., & Bromley, P. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197570685.013.30 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Kalmes, L. E. (2024) · Journal of Education Policy · doi:10.1080/02680939.2024.2420325 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
(España), U. A. D. B., & Estay, H. M. (2018) · Educación e Inclusión: Aportes y perspectivas de la Educación Comparada para la Equidad · doi:10.25145/c.educomp.2018.16.067 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Fransson, G. (2020) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119142973.ch27 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
The political decision on Portugal’s entry into PISA: A research note
Lopo, T. T. (2020) · Policy Futures in Education · doi:10.1177/1478210320971537 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Verger (2016) identified the normative emulation approach which theorizes the dissemination of global education policy as a process of state legitimation.”
BackgroundThe role of non-State actors in the privatisation of Higher Education in Uruguay
Martínez-Pons, M. (2019) · NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives
Monk, J. (2019) · Current Issues in Comparative Education · doi:10.52214/cice.v21i1.11555
Zhou, J. (2023) · Open Journal of Social Sciences · doi:10.4236/jss.2023.1110026
Seitzer, H. (2023) · The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology · doi:10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosg053.pub2
Ahn, E. S. (2025) · doi:10.1002/9781119518297.eowe00238
Acosta, F. M. (2023) · Archivos de ciencias de la educación · doi:10.24215/23468866e118
Time and Policy Diffusion: Analysing Subnational Education Policy in Brazil
Segatto, C. I., & Oliveira, M. C. (2025) · Social Policy and Administration · doi:10.1111/spol.70018
- Authors
- Verger, A.
- Corresponding author
- Verger, Antoni
- ORCID
- Verger, Antoni
- Venue
- The Handbook of Global Education Policy
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2016-03-05
- Pages
- 64-80
- OpenAlex
- W2555347001
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2013: 1
- Type
- other
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Global Educational Policies and Reforms
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Policy Transfer and Learning
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Higher Education Governance and Development
- Keywords
- privatization of education, policy diffusion, policy adoption, critical constructivism, cultural political economy, role of ideas, rationalism
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
