The importance of access to resources in a setting of industry convergence: The case of agriculture and chemistry

Predicted shortages of fossil resources and the growing societal concern for sustainability have led to a significant interest in switching supplies to renewable resources - especially in the chemical and related industries. Chemical companies are investing heavily in the development of ‘biofuels’ and have started to produce ‘biopolymers’ from starch or plant oils. At the same time, agricultural companies, benefiting from their direct access to renewable resources, have entered the markets for biopolymers and biofuels and become new competitors for the chemical incumbents. An analysis of 819 patents on biofuels and bioethanol shows that agricultural companies have built up technological knowledge within this area in the recent past. Moreover, an exemplary presentation of five cross-industrial collaborations between oil/chemical, agricultural and biotechnological companies are taken as further evidence for a blurring of boundaries between these hitherto distinct industry sectors. Furthermore, we show that in this particular case, in addition to technological developments access to the new raw material base as well as political and societal factors are the main drivers of convergence. For this reason, our study contributes to the research area of industry convergence, while at the same time providing valuable insights for managers and policy makers in these fields.