Globalization is a central story of the current era. However, while the flow of goods, money, people and information is global, regulation and norms are not. This results in ethical and practical dilemmas for multinational companies, governments, and international organizations. The core argument presented in this thesis is that international institutionalization increases communication and international learning about policy choices. This influences the rate of policy adoption in the international system and the speed at which domestic policy decisions are made. The evidence presented in this thesis suggests that investment in format international processes accelerates the policy convergence in the international system and facilitates the codification of global policy norms into formal international law. Though the focus in this thesis is on tobacco control policy, the claims made have broad applicability to a variety of policy spheres