Ideas and economic policy change: The influence of policy ideas and non-state actors in the Peruvian case of market-oriented reform

Explanations of the wave of neoliberal economic reform in developing countries emphasize the influence of material variables such as economic crisis, the leverage of international financial institutions (IFIs), and the pressure of relevant self-interested actors as the cause of policy choice, viewing these countries largely as passive actors responding to international structural constraints. Very little (if any) attention is paid to the role of ideas as sources of economic policy change. Furthermore, the few studies focused on Latin America that tackle the influence of ideas in cases of neoliberal economic reform have mainly concentrated on the role played only by state actors in the process of reform.; The present study assesses the role of policy ideas and that of their advocates, state and non-state actors as well, in the Peruvian case of neoliberal economic reform. A qualitative comparative analysis of the economic policy pursued by the various administrations that governed Peru during 1975-1992 is applied here. Particular attention is paid to the social-political context, with special focus on the prevailing economic policy ideas surrounding each of these administrations. Examining variation in the dependent variable (economic policy) with one of the independent variables (policy ideas) while holding other potential causal variables (economic crisis and IFIs leverage) constant across time permits seeing that although relevant, material variables appear to not have consequential effect on economic policy change. In contrast, the analysis shows a causal relationship between change in policy ideas and change in economic policy expressed in Peru in the application and consolidation of neoliberal reforms during the 1990s. More importantly, the findings suggest looking not only at the role played by policymakers in the state sector, but also at non-state actors: at the "soft power" exercised by technocrats, think-tanks, and the press, among others, who during the late 1980s in Peru were a crucial conduit for the diffusion of market-oriented policy ideas throughout society.