In Policy Signals and Market Responses Stuart John Barton sets himself the goal of examining how institutional quality affected Zambia's economic growth over the first fifty years of the country's independence. In doing so, it explores how institutional changes adopted by successive Zambian governments shaped the country's relationship with foreign capital. Barton argues that increasing institutional exclusivity in the first two decades of independence “reduced constraint on Zambia's executive branch of government, resulting in increased political uncertainty, which in turn retarded capital investment and restrained economic growth” (p. 3). The overall argument is built on three subarguments. With the first, Barton suggests that the preeminence and increasing exclusivity of President Kenneth Kaunda's United National Independence Party (UNIP) during the first six years of independence shaped ordinary Zambians expectations of their government and allowed and encouraged Kaunda to make a series of suboptimal economic decisions. Second, he argues that this political exclusivity narrowed the field of economic interests and increasingly excluded foreign investors. Finally, Barton suggests that it was the decision by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide balance-of-payments support from 1976 to 1983 that removed the foreign exchange constraint faced by the Zambian government. In doing so, the IMF removed the possibility of market forces challenging exclusive and noneconomic practices in the economy.

The book is organized across nine chapters. The first two provide a brief background of Zambia's economic history prior to independence and details of pertinent literature. The main body of the book takes a chronological approach, focusing on individual events in Zambia's economic history. Consequently, chapter 3 examines the first four years of independence under UNIP rule, arguing that the institutional change that occurred had significant and long-term impacts on the Zambian economy. The next chapter moves on to consider the effect of Zambia's initial reforms and suggests that this period was characterized by a growing economic and political exclusivity that led to Kaunda's decision to unilaterally cancel its mine management agreements with the South African Anglo American Corporation and Roan Selection Trust. Barton argues that this was possible due to the reduced constraint of the executive and also because there was a “growing institutionalised perception of the state as provider” (p. 10). To Barton, the long-lasting effect of these moves was the signal they sent to foreign investors that the Zambian government had a reduced commitment to the institutions required to uphold a market economy. Chapter 5 covers Zambia's first balance-of-payments crisis and suggests that the increased government control of industry detailed in the earlier chapters led to falling production and the exclusion of foreign investment. Furthermore, Barton suggests that Kaunda followed this path despite warnings from senior members of his government as he was convinced that the price of copper, Zambia's primary export, would remain high.

In chapter 6, Barton explores the result of these policies including the second balance-of-payments crisis in 1981. He contends that on two occasions Kaunda exaggerated the threat of famine to force the IMF to support an unsustainable policy environment. This eventually ended in 1989 when the development of an organized opposition gave international donors an alternative option. Chapters 7 and 8 focus on the early reforms brought about by the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) in the early 1990s. Barton suggests that despite these reforms, corruption, patronage, and rent-seeking practices that were common under UNIP persisted and slowed economic growth and hampered meaningful reform. The MMD sought to address these problems through the creation of Special Economic Zones where foreign investment could be nurtured ahead of more widespread reform. Despite their relative success in attracting foreign investment, Barton suggests that government actions outside the Special Economic Zones continued to signal the preeminence of executive power and a weak commitment to the institutions required to maintain a functioning market economy. In doing so, continued foreign investment was threatened. The final chapter sees Barton draw together his arguments and suggest directions for future research.

Overall, Policy Signals and Market Responses is a valuable contribution to the historiography of the political economy of Zambia. The arguments made here are evidenced well through archival research in Zambia and interviews with key individuals. A slight problem with the book is that in places it reads a little too much like a PhD thesis, with the crude repetition of key arguments scattered throughout the chapters. Nevertheless, if one looks past this Barton has produced a book that will appeal to historians with an interest in the economic history of Zambia, and postcolonial Africa more broadly.