This book investigates the causes, course and consequences of the shift in West German chemical technology from a coal to a petroleum basis between 1945 and 1961. It examines the historical underpinnings of the technological culture of the German chemical industry; changing political and economic constraints on technological decision-making in the post-war period; and the actual decision-making process within five individual firms. By addressing a wide variety of broader issues - including the origins and impact of the division of Germany; the effects of the Wirtschaftswunder, or economic miracle; European integration; and the changing role of the West German Federal Republic in the international political order - this book explains how West German industry regained and then retained a competitive position in world markets.
By:
Raymond G. Stokes (University of Glasgow)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 233mm,
Width: 155mm,
Spine: 14mm
Weight: 397g
ISBN: 9780521025768
ISBN 10: 0521025761
Pages: 276
Publication Date: 20 April 2006
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction; Part I. Background: 1. Politics and technological excellence: organic chemicals, 1860–1945: 2. Western German chemicals in flux, 1945–55; Part II. Bargaining from Strength: The Political Economy Of Technological Change, 1945–55: 3. A new agenda, 1949–55: Cold War, changing energy patterns and the development of West German chemical technology; 4. Rejoining the international community: international cooperation and technology transfer, 1951–5; Part III. Alternative Paths to Plenty: Case Studies from the mid-1950s: 5. Fifty-fifty with the petroleum multinationals: BASF, Shell, and Rheinische Olefinwerke; 6. Fifty-fifty with the petroleum multinationals: Bayer, British Petroleum, and Erdölchemie; 7. Going it alone: Hoechst; 8. State's interest and technological change: Hüls and cold-rubber technology; 9. End game strategies: the German coal industry and the Fischer–Tropsch process; Part IV. Consolidating the New Regime, 1957–61: 10. Petrochemicals triumphant, 1957–61; 11. Conclusion; Index.
Reviews for Opting for Oil: The Political Economy of Technological Change in the West German Industry, 1945–1961
'… finely crafted … fine achievement in scholarly analysis.' Nature
