This article revisits the insights of lesson-drawing. Today, policy design experts are well aware of the risk of the best practice approach, or policy transfer conducted in a one-size-fits-all manner. However, often warnings are provided only in reference to the distinctive nature of policy-borrowing jurisdictions. This is insufficient in terms of designing a policy transfer conducive to problem-solving or for preventing inappropriate transfer, which merely leads to a waste of time and resources. What must also be taken into consideration is the nature of the original policy itself. To use the size metaphor, we must detect not only the size of those who purchase and wear the costume but also the size of the costume itself so as to compare them and assess fitness. In particular, although “setting and context” are deemed integral to policy transferability, discovering relevant setting and context in ex ante assessment remains an analytical challenge. Paraphrasing setting and context to institutions (which are understood as the rules of the game following the Northian definition), this article advances two methods to identify relevant institutions behind the policy under assessment: looking at the policy’s historical origins and exploring cases of failure. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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