Description
This book neatly considers the whole range of arguments for and against high levels of industrial concentration. Early chapters explain the factors governing level of and changes in concentration, and review the strengths and weaknesses of the measures that empirical studies have used. Three central chapters then follow: they form a survey of the available evidence on concentration levels and trends both in Britain and the United States, and are the core of the book. Included are such questions as whether concentration is higher in Britain than in the United States, and whether or not concentration levels in the two countries have shown a persistent tendency to increase throughout the twentieth century.
In chapter 7 the author, emphasizing that his subject is useful only to the extent that it can indicate market performance, considers in particular whether profit levels in concentrated industries are significantly higher than in more competitive industries.
The final chapter considers the whole range of attitudes to concentration that governments may adopt in the search for better industrial performance.
Michael Utton is Lecturer in Economics at the University of Reading.
