Book Reviews Doern, G. Bruce and Stephen Wilks (eds). Comparative Competition Policy: National Institutions in a Global Market. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Pp. 398. This volume consists of a collection of essays presented at a conference on Comparative Competition Policy in Ottawa (Canada) in 1994. It provides a comparative study of the political economy and the institutions of competition policy in six different jurisdictions. There are contributions by G. Bruce Doern, Stephen Wilks, B. Guy Peters, Kenji Sanekata, Roland Sturm, Lee McGowan and Michael J. Trebilcock, all of whom are prominent academics mainly in the fields of political science or law. The book is structured in eleven chapters. The first two chapters provide an introduction and defines the conceptual framework of analysis as well as the scope of the study. The next six chapters explore the competition regimes considered to be the ‘models’ in market economy systems, namely the United States of America, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union. In order to facilitate the comparative analysis, the authors cover similar issues for each system, including the historical construction of the regime, the basic legislation, the main powers, core actors and institutions, policy processes and major substantive cases. The last three chapters set the comparative dimension in the context of the globalization of economic activity and the internationalization of competition policy. Thus, the links with trade, investment and environmental policy, as well as the pressures for convergence, including the establishment of a new international institution to deal with competition policy, are also envisaged and discussed. The comparative analysis of national competition regimes leads to the suggestion that competition policy is introduced for different political reasons and serves a distinctive role within each society. As Doern and Wilks conclude, the variations of timing of, and the motives for, the introduction of competition policy have then affected the extent of the six jurisdictions analysed, the fashion in which policy has been inserted into the institutional structure of the state, and the stringency of enforcement. However, the lessons to be drawn from this volume for the purpose of an international competition policy and institution are rather disappointing. Although some aspects of the competition regimes discussed in this book have changed since the Ottawa Conference (e.g. in the United Kingdom), it continues to merit reading for the high academic quality of the contributions. The greatest strength of the book, however, is its novel approach to an issue traditionally dominated by the disciplines of law and economics. It offers a public policy analysis to deal with the role of institutions, policy processes and political priorities. This contributes to gaining an adequate understanding of such a complex and multi-disciplinary area as competition policy. The insights gained from political science and public administration clearly complement the legal and economic perspectives. This volume will therefore be invaluable for policy-makers and scholars, and will surely be helpful for practitioners. Dr. Salomé Cisnal de Ugarte Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Löber Brussels
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