ABSTRACT
Faced with severe economic crisis following independence from the former Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan is engaged in widespread structural adjustment reform to transform itself into a market economy. Dolowitz and Marsh define policy transfer as the process by which actors borrow policies developed in one setting to develop programmes within another. Kyrgyzstan gained independence from the former Soviet Union in August 1991. This led to an immediate and continued financial crisis, initially resulting from the loss of macro economic subsidies from Moscow, and since compounded by a deteriorating economy and shrinking tax base. Dolowitz and Marsh note that much of the literature on policy transfer assumes that actors involved in transfer are rational and calculating. If the objectives of policy had been more sharply articulated, alternative instruments of reform may have been considered. The potential to reduce referrals was seen as the main problem to be addressed, but the population was more concerned about the access to basic medical treatment.
