Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T14:08:35.621Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - The chemical sectoral system: firms, markets, institutions and the processes of knowledge creation and diffusion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

By
Fabrizio Cesaroni ,
Alfonso Gambardella ,
Walter Garcia-Fontes  and
Myriam Mariani
Edited by
Franco Malerba
Fabrizio Cesaroni
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa
Alfonso Gambardella
Affiliation:
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa
Walter Garcia-Fontes
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Universitat Pompeu Fabrander
Myriam Mariani
Affiliation:
Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT), University of Maastricht
Franco Malerba
Affiliation:
Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milan
Get access

Summary

Introduction

The aim of this chapter is to analyze the chemical industry by using the theoretical framework of a sectoral system of innovation. The chapter describes the knowledge and technological base of the industry and explores the existence of complementarities among knowledge, technologies and products. It also examines the heterogeneity of the relevant agents in the industry, their learning processes and their competencies, the role of non-firm organizations and the characteristics of industry dynamics and (co)evolutionary processes (see chapter 1 in this book).

Previous studies describe the characteristics of the chemical industry and emphasize its heterogeneity (see, among others, Arora, Landau and Rosenberg, 1998). The chemical industry is composed of different subsectors, ranging from bulk chemicals to biotechnology. Each of them is characterized by specific features and is based on particular knowledge and technological bases. This heterogeneity, together with the century-long history of the industry, allows for a comprehensive study of the existence of evolutionary and coevolutionary processes in this sector.

The most relevant agents in the chemical industry are the established chemical companies, which emerged over time because of the importance of economies of scale at the level of the firm. These large companies could spread the fixed costs of plant setting and product development, and afford the big investments in production and marketing activities to reach geographically dispersed markets. Small and innovative chemical firms and public institutions interact with these large companies through cooperative and competitive relationships (Aftalion, 1999).

Type
Chapter
Information
Sectoral Systems of Innovation
Concepts, Issues and Analyses of Six Major Sectors in Europe
 , pp. 121 - 154
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aftalion, F. (1999), History of the International Chemical Industry, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia
Albach, H., D. B. Audretsch, M. Fleischer, R. Greb, E. Höfs, L. Röller and I. Schulz (1996), Innovation in the European Chemical Industry, Discussion Paper FS IV 96-26, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin [also available as European Innovation Monitoring System Publication no. 38, European Commission, Luxembourg]
Arduini, R., and F. Cesaroni (2004), Development and diffusion of environmental technologies: the role of the European chemical industry, in F. Cesaroni, A. Gambardella, W. Garcia-Fontes (eds.), The European Chemical Industry: Innovation, Performance and Competitiveness, Kluwer Academic Publisher, Boston
Arora, A., and , A. Fosfuri (2000), The market for technology in the chemical industry: causes and consequences, Revue d'Economie Industrielle, 92, 317–334CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arora, A., and A. Fosfuri (2003), Licensing the market for technology, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, forthcoming
Arora, A., and , A. Gambardella (1994), The changing technology of technical change: general and abstract knowledge and the division of innovative labour, Research Policy, 23, 5, 523–532CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arora, A., and A. Gambardella (1998), Evolution of industry structure in the chemical industry, in A. Arora, R. Landau and N. Rosenberg (eds.), Chemicals and Long-term Economic Growth: Insights from the Chemical Industry, John Wiley, New York, 379–413
Arora, A., A. Gambardella and W. Garcia-Fontes W. (1998), Investment Flows of Large Chemical Companies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, mimeograph
Arora, A., R. Landau and N. Rosenberg (eds.) (1998), Chemicals and Long-term Economic Growth: Insights from the Chemical Industry, John Wiley, New York
Cesaroni, F. (2003), Technology strategies in the knowledge economy: the licensing activity of Himont, International Journal of Innovation Management, 7, 2, 223–246CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, P. L., and M. Sharp (1992), The chemical industry, in C. Freeman, M. Sharp and W. Walker (eds.), Technology and the Future of Europe, Frances Pinter, London, 198–212
Freeman, C. (1968), Chemical process plant: innovation and the world market, National Institute Economic Review, 45, 3, 29–51Google Scholar
Freeman, C. (1982), The Economics of Industrial Innovation, Frances Pinter, London
Freeman, C., , A. Young and , J. Fuller (1963), The plastics industry: a comparative study of research and innovation, National Institute Economic Review, 26, 22–62Google Scholar
Geuna, A. (2001), The evolution of specialisation: public research in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, Research Evaluation, 10, 67–79CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landau, R., and N. Rosenberg (1992), Successful commercialisation in the chemical process industries, in R. Landau, D. C. Mowery and N. Rosenberg, (eds.), Technology and the Wealth of Nations, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 73–119
Mariani, M. (2004), What Determines Technological Hits? Geography vs. Firm Competencies, Working Paper no. 2004/004, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology, University of Maastricht, Maastricht
Meyer-Krahmer, F. (1999), Basic research for innovation: the case of science-based technologies, in P. Shearmur, B. Osmond and P. Pockley (eds.), Nurturing Creativity in Research, Institute of Advanced Studies, Canberra
Murmann, J. P., and R. Landau (1998), On the making of competitive advantage: the development of the chemical industries in Britain and Germany since 1850, in A. Arora, R. Landau and N. Rosenberg (eds.), Chemicals and Long-term Economic Growth: Insights from the Chemical Industry, John Wiley, New York, 27–70
Porter, M. (1980), Competitive Strategy, Free Press, New York
Rosenberg, N. (1998), Technological change in the chemicals: the role of university-industry relationships, in A. Arora, R. Landau and N. Rosenberg (eds.), Chemicals and Long-term Economic Growth: Insights from the Chemical Industry, John Wiley, New York, 193–230
Sharp, M. (2001), Globalisation, Specialisation and Competitiveness, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, Brighton, mimeograph
Spitz, P. H. (1988), Petrochemicals: The Rise of an Industry, John Wiley, New York
Teece, D. J. (1988), Technological change and the nature of the firm, in G. Dosi, C. Freeman, R. R. Nelson, G. Silverberg and L. Soete (ed.), Technical Change and Economic Theory, Frances Pinter, London, 256–281
Wright, G. (1999), Can a nation learn? American technology as a network phenomenon, in N. R. Lamoreaux, D. Raff and P. Temin (eds.), Learning by Doing in Markets, Firms, and Countries, National Bureau of Economic Research conference report, University of Chicago Press, 296–347

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×