Mobilities of the One-Product policy from Japan to Thailand: a critical policy study of OVOP and OTOP

摘要

The One Village One Product (OVOP) movement was a policy implemented in 1980 in Oita Prefecture, Japan. It was used as a basis for crafting the One Tambon One Product (OTOP) policy in Thailand. In this study, the policy mobilities approach is used, as opposed to traditional policy transfer approaches, which are rooted in neoclassical economics. The policy mobilities approach proves itself more useful for analyzing the cross-scalar pattern of the study case. After a brief explanation of the original movement in Oita Prefecture, the issue of the transfer of the programme from Japan to Thailand is discussed. This first includes an analysis of the motivations for implementing and using the programme. An examination of how the Japanese local and national authorities responded to the Thai demands is then made. Two-tier diplomacy influenced the policy movement process by conveying the different meanings and practices of OVOP. These findings are coherent with one of the main claims of the policy mobilities approach, which is that policies evolve as they move. Furthermore, this case study highlights two vectors of policy mobility which also act as poles of policy evolution: the academia-policy-maker nexus and the business-state apparatus.