7War and Industry Dynamics
The Case of the Industrial Gases Industry After 1940
Introduction
‘Industry’ is a concept that is widely viewed as self-explanatory and unambiguous. But in fact the boundaries delineating an industry are as vaguely defined as they are protean, and the firms that comprise them often have interests and activities in more than one industry, interests and activities that can also change over time.1 This blurriness does not mean that industries do not exist—they most certainly do: as loci of competition among firms;2 in the heads of actors in firms operating within a self-defined industry; in the form of trade associations; and in statistics compiled by governments and other organisations. ...
