This book, first published in 2007, presents research by leading scholars to an international audience of academics, business executives, and policy makers. This research is presented in two clusters. The first cluster of studies explores four cross-cutting topics, including surveys of the changes in industry structure, corporate strategies, plant technologies, governmental policies, finance, and corporate governance. The second cluster of studies comprises nine country surveys that examine the experiences of representative nations in chemical production and foreign trade. By combining the similar historical cases of a few nations (such as Sweden, Norway, and Finland), the authors are able to deal with eleven chemical-producing nations, including all of the leaders in this area as well as some of the important followers.