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Connected We Stand: Lead Firm Ownership Ties in the Global Petrochemical Industry

Tilsted, Joachim Peter LU orcid and Bauer, Fredric LU orcid (2023)
Abstract
Using oil, gas, and coal to create platform chemicals on an enormous scale, the petrochemical industry constitutes a core part of the global energy order. Given prospects for demand growth for petrochemicals, the sector is set to become increasingly important to the fossil fuel interests. Starting from the perspective that internationalised networks are important to understand prospects for transformative change, this paper sets out to analyse economic ties in the global petrochemical industry. Internationalised networks help structure the social metabolism and diffuse dominant rationalities forming a global regime. Economic ties strengthen integration by establishing a material and juridical relation. In this paper, we explore such... (More)
Using oil, gas, and coal to create platform chemicals on an enormous scale, the petrochemical industry constitutes a core part of the global energy order. Given prospects for demand growth for petrochemicals, the sector is set to become increasingly important to the fossil fuel interests. Starting from the perspective that internationalised networks are important to understand prospects for transformative change, this paper sets out to analyse economic ties in the global petrochemical industry. Internationalised networks help structure the social metabolism and diffuse dominant rationalities forming a global regime. Economic ties strengthen integration by establishing a material and juridical relation. In this paper, we explore such relations and theorize how they foster alignment on a global scale. We review network conceptualisations in the sustainability transitions, global value chain and global production network literatures. Building on this review, we analyse ownership relations among lead firms in the global petrochemical sector. We find a truly global but polycentric network aligning interests across major producers which we argue help maintain and reproduce commitments to fossil fuels. The findings illustrate the relevance of pursuing parallel transitions across and along the petrochemical value chain including energy, chemicals, and plastics to break from fossil fuel dependency. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
petrochemicals, global networks, fossil energy, lead firms, Industrial transformation
publisher
Social Science Research Network (SSRN)
DOI
10.2139/ssrn.4363914
project
The Political Economy of Petrochemicals
Petrochemicals and Climate Change: Mapping Power Structures
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7542396c-aa29-42b5-9d0d-57c994debf41
date added to LUP
2023-02-22 16:27:19
date last changed
2023-06-29 10:24:45
@misc{7542396c-aa29-42b5-9d0d-57c994debf41,
  abstract     = {{Using oil, gas, and coal to create platform chemicals on an enormous scale, the petrochemical industry constitutes a core part of the global energy order. Given prospects for demand growth for petrochemicals, the sector is set to become increasingly important to the fossil fuel interests. Starting from the perspective that internationalised networks are important to understand prospects for transformative change, this paper sets out to analyse economic ties in the global petrochemical industry. Internationalised networks help structure the social metabolism and diffuse dominant rationalities forming a global regime. Economic ties strengthen integration by establishing a material and juridical relation. In this paper, we explore such relations and theorize how they foster alignment on a global scale. We review network conceptualisations in the sustainability transitions, global value chain and global production network literatures. Building on this review, we analyse ownership relations among lead firms in the global petrochemical sector. We find a truly global but polycentric network aligning interests across major producers which we argue help maintain and reproduce commitments to fossil fuels. The findings illustrate the relevance of pursuing parallel transitions across and along the petrochemical value chain including energy, chemicals, and plastics to break from fossil fuel dependency.}},
  author       = {{Tilsted, Joachim Peter and Bauer, Fredric}},
  keywords     = {{petrochemicals; global networks; fossil energy; lead firms; Industrial transformation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  note         = {{Preprint}},
  publisher    = {{Social Science Research Network (SSRN)}},
  title        = {{Connected We Stand: Lead Firm Ownership Ties in the Global Petrochemical Industry}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4363914}},
  doi          = {{10.2139/ssrn.4363914}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}