Mapunda, Angelo Mtitu (1987) Legal regulation of prices in Tanzania : an examination of the Regulation of Prices Act 1973 as a tool of social change and development. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Drawing mainly from the Tazanian experience this study
attempts to review the principal issues in the legal regulation of
prices, by identifying both the general and specific importance
of law in this respect. The position I shall present is that
legal control is both necessary and desirable for the welfare
and social development of the people. The key issue is whether
the market-place will perform its function satisfactory: Will
it produce socially desirable results? If it will not, why will
it not? And will legal regulation help to do the job a little
better?
In an attempt to answer some of these questions,
first of all, outline the basic issues raised by the study in
the first Chapter. Then I examine the general case for price
controls - the theory about the controls, the motives and reasons
for their imposition and the manner in which they are effected
in different economic systems. This is done in Chapter Two. Relying
most on the available literature on the regulatory process, this
Chapter also looks at the relationship between law and economic
regulation and concludes that the effectiveness of law depends
on the existence of a conducive socio-economic environment. In
Chapter Three I describe the past record of price control laws
in Tanzania. I conclude that despite the failure in the past,
the controls still constitute an important policy instrument
in the transition to socialism. In Chapters Four and Five I describe
the manner in which the current regulations are implemented and
the problems encountered. I conclude that the operational performance
of the controls is constrained by internal and external influences on the economic and political life of the country. In the concluding
Chapter I assess the impact of the controls: Do the controls
work? Do people buy goods at the controlled prices? Why today
the controls are almost popularly accepted as worthwhile? I conclude
that while there may be no measurable economic gains derived
by consumers, the controls have a stabilising effect on the social
and political front. In the final section I argue that the
future success of the legislation depends on creating a correspondence
between the economic structures and the control system. What
makes the controls ineffective is not so much defects in the
law but the contradictions between the orientation of and functioning
of the economic system and the ideological commitment.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Price regulation -- Tanzania, Tanzania -- Economic conditions -- 20th century
Official Date:	February 1987
Dates:	Date Event February 1987 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Law
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Ghai, Yash P., 1938- ; Cottrell, Jill
Sponsors:	Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United Kingdom ; University of Daresalaam
Extent:	xii, 422 p.
Language:	eng

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