Amos Zehavi and Baruch Levi Delegation of Physician Authority, Administrative Culture, and the Dynamics of Policy Adoption ABSTRACT Since first introduced in the 1960s, numerous countries have adopted reforms in the healthcare field that allow medical personnel other than physicians to engage in tasks that traditionally were the exclusive domain of physicians. These reforms are highly controversial because of the way they challenge the traditional boundaries of the medical profession. This study compares the experience of 18 OECD countries of which some have adopted these reforms while others have not. It evaluates the contribution of different types of structural factors β socio-economic, cultural, and institutional βto policy adoption. Utilizing quantitative and qualitative methods β Event History Analysis and process tracing β this study highlights the important role of administrative culture, a category that combines cultural legacies and institutional properties, in explaining policy adoption patterns. Contact details: Amos Zehavi, Ph.D. Department of public policy Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, 69978 Israel e-mail: amos.zehavi@gmail.com phone: +972 54-5632019 Baruch Levi e-mail: barrylevi1@gmail.com