Integration and isolation in the global petrochemical industry: a multiscalar corporate network analysis

Verbeek, T. and Mah, A. (2020) Integration and isolation in the global petrochemical industry: a multiscalar corporate network analysis. Economic Geography, 96(4), pp. 363-387. (doi: 10.1080/00130095.2020.1794809)

Abstract

The global petrochemical industry has long been characterized by stable patterns of Western corporate and geographic leadership, but since the early 2000s, the global playing field has changed significantly. China has overtaken the US and Europe as the world’s largest petrochemical producer, and other emerging economies have become global petrochemical players. Combining insights from scholarship on global corporate elites, world city networks, and relational economic geography, this article examines patterns in the corporate networks of leading petrochemical corporations. The research is based on a multiscalar corporate network analysis, applying social network analysis to identify board interlocks, joint venture interlocks, and spatial interlocks between corporations. Through analyzing corporate networks across multiple scales, the research reveals patterns of both integration and isolation within the petrochemical industry. Isolation is evident in disconnected regional corporate elite networks, where the established North Atlantic corporate elite is interconnected through board interlocks, while corporate networks in Asia and other emerging economies remain disconnected. However, high levels of integration within the industry are also evident in an interconnected international company system formed through joint venture collaborations and in overlapping subsidiary networks centered on petrochemical hubs around the world. The article argues that the results demonstrate a combination of resilience and change, or path dependence and contingency, in patterns of corporate power and collaboration. Western company networks still form the social and spatial backbone of the industry, but these have been challenged by emerging strategic centers and isolated elite networks in other parts of the world. This article contributes to debates on industrial corporate elites, multiple globalizations, and the multipolar global economy.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant Agreement No. 639583).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Mah, Professor Alice
• Authors: Verbeek, T., and Mah, A.
• Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography; H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
• Journal Name: Economic Geography
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 0013-0095
• ISSN (Online): 1944-8287
• Published Online: 28 August 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 The Author(s)
• First Published: First published in Economic Geography 96(4):363-387
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license