Learning bases core chemical companies

Of the multisectored core companies listed in Table 1.1, all except Allied Chemical were American first movers in products based on new chemical technologies. Du Pont, Dow, Monsanto, and American Cyanamid established their initial learning bases between 1896 and 1907. Du Pont was the first mover in nitrocellulose-based explosives, Dow in electrically produced inorganic chemicals, and Monsanto in the synthesis of foods and flavors. The several companies that in 1917 made up Union Carbide had also pioneered in a range of electrically based inorganic products. On the other hand, only one of the enterprises that merged into Allied commercialized a new technology. 

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