Government interventions in the economies of developing countries frequently do not achieve their intended goals. Policy-makers' expectations often fall wide of the mark when compared with actual behaviour of consumers, producers and businessmen. In an important study that has wide significance for the field of development economics as a whole, Javad Amid and Amjad Hadjikhani study the impact of trade and industrial policies on the economy and business behaviour of Iran.

Javad Amid is a senior lecturer at the Department of Economics, Uppsala University, Sweden. His previous writings include a book on Iranian agriculture and papers on economic development. Amjad Hadjikhani is Professor of Marketing at Uppsala University.