Politics trimphs economics? Political economy and the implementation of competition law and economic regulation in developing countries/ edited by Pradeep S. Menta and Simon J. Eve

Since the 1990s, developing countries have been very busy in the policy space enacting competition laws, introducing competition policies and modernising or putting in place regulatory regimes and laws. This trend obviously results from the dawning of a realisation the fair and free play of competitive forces and regulation of anti-competitive forces is the way through which optimal growth and efficient output and prices can be attained.
Given the fast pace of such developments in competitions and regulation on the policy front, it seems strange that very little research on the peculiar problems facing the competition and regulation regimes in developing countries had taken place till a couple of years back. Much of the effort in competition and regulation in these countries had focused on capacity building along developed country lines to meet the requirements of new competition and regulatory regimes which in effect amounted to putting the cart before the horse.