Intermediary structure of paradiplomacy: examining sister-city links in Japan

ABSTRACT

Recently, subnational-level international engagement, referred to as paradiplomacy, has garnered widespread attention globally. Many cities worldwide recognise paradiplomacy as an effective tool for addressing policy issues, such as world peace and climate change, unlike state-level diplomacy, which has struggled to offer solutions. Agreements and memoranda of understanding do not automatically develop while exercising paradiplomacy. In terms of implementation, it intrinsically requires two-dimensional dynamics: inter- and intra-city. Despite extensive research, few studies have argued for intra-city arrangements to implement paradiplomacy based on public administration theories stressing public policy capability. This study focused on sister-city agreements and clarified the significance of international exchange associations as intermediaries for intra-city cooperation arrangements from the perspective of policy implementation and network research. This study used multiple regression with data from a questionnaire survey on small- and middle-sized Japanese municipalities having the sister-city relationships with Australian counterparts. It concluded that an international exchange association was a significant antecedent to sister affiliation development, identifying the significance of budget size. The results of the study have theoretical and practical implications that stress the necessity of intermediary arrangements in policy implementation.

KEYWORDS:

• Sister-city agreement
• intermediary structure
• international exchange association
• Japan

Acknowledgements

The contribution from the municipal governments responded the questionnaire survey was gratefully acknowledged.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Data availability statement

The data supporting the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hiroaki Mori

Hiroaki Mori is a professor at Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan. He received his Ph.D. in Policy management from Doshisha University, Japan. His research interests include public management and policy network. In addition, Professor Mori is passionate about public diplomacy and citizen-level international exchanges. He has published numerous articles on public management and public-private networking.