2015/01/02 by Arjo Roersch van der Hoogte, Toine Pieters · 1 citation
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Chemistry · #Historical Economic and Social Studies #Italy: Economic History and Contemporary Issues #Plant biochemistry and biosynthesis #Cartel #Colonialism #Empire #Product (mathematics) #Quinine #Raw material #German #Business #Commerce #Economics #International trade #Industrial organization #Political science #Law #Chemistry #History #Collusion #Malaria
paper · doi:10.1080/07341512.2015.1068005
openalex publication_date 2015/01/02 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
This study shows how control over delicately balanced supply chains from raw material to the final product shifted from one national industry to another. By 1920, Dutch cinchona producers and quinine manufacturers dominated the international cartel that controlled the worldwide production and distribution of quinine (an antimalarial), quinine sulphate (a semi-finished product) and cinchona (the raw material). Twenty years earlier, however, this cartel had been controlled by the German pharmaceutical industry. How can we understand the shift of power in the world’s first pharmaceutical cartel? We argue that the internal shift of power was largely the result of the following three factors: a global industrial laboratory revolution; the vertical integration of a transoceanic network of cinchona producers, quinine manufacturers, (colonial) scientists and state officials across the Dutch Empire; and Germany’s economic isolation during the First World War.