ABSTRACT
In Chapter 3 we have outlined some of the main technical innovations associated with the very rapid growth of the steel and electrical industries. Firms in the United States were able to take advantage of a rich endowment in natural resources and large domestic market to develop and exploit new technologies in these industries. American firms were particularly successful in scaling up new techniques of production and marketing and became world leaders in many industries despite the fact that many of the original innovations and most of the related scientific work had been performed in Europe. The emergence of new giant firms was not confined to steel and electrical products. Similar developments took place with other materials and especially in oil and chemicals. Here too giant firms emerged both in the United States and in Europe.
