Review by Choice Review
Chapman examines the spectacular growth of the petrochemical industry by relating processes of innovation to market development in light of the strategies of multinational corporations and governments that influenced the timing and geographical distribution of the necessary investments. He relies significantly on preceding works of economists, historians, and technicians. The industry is followed in the US, Western Europe, and Japan up to the late 1970s and therefore includes discussions on the effect of oil-price shocks, price instability, and demand-related responses together with the problem of overcapacity. The industry is discussed in terms of its basic chemical building blocks of olefins and aromatics which result in a huge diversity of end products. Large firms tend to dominate this industry, and an interesting list of ranked large corporations is provided. The author is a geographer, hence much attention is devoted to the location of plants from laboratory origins in the late 19th century to present efforts to introduce this industry to underdeveloped countries. In this context the industry can be regarded as a growth pole in 20th century economic development. Well illustrated with diagrams; comprehensive bibliography. For academic and large public library collections.-A. Melamid, New York University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
