The introduction of long-term care policy schemes: policy development, policy transfer and policy change

Since the early 1990s, several European countries (and Japan) have in turn introduced new long-term care schemes. Our analysis starts with the assumption that the policy design of the long-term care schemes can be explained by the interplay of factors originating within and beyond nation states. Policy changes are determined by internal and external factors, including voluntary transfers between countries. Our findings highlight the dominance of internal factors, in particular the significant impact of the political and social actors on decisions about policy design and the adoption of foreign models.