To be able to compare firms along a variety of dimensions, the present study has drawn on a database that I have put together with Professor Ernst Homburg of the University of Maastricht, The Netherlands. We have made a systematic effort to identify all the dye firms and their plants that existed in the world from 1850 until 1914. Virtually all of the firms come from European countries and the United States. The database appears to be unique because it goes further back in time than any previous attempt to study the process of industry evolution in a systematic way.

The database comprises four levels. The fundamental unit of observation is a plant, a firm, or a country in a given year. If a firm or plant existed for the entire period from 1850 to 1914, there would be sixty-five records for the firm or plant in the database. If a firm existed for only two years, there would be two records for the firm in the database. Besides enumerating at the plant and firm levels, the database also surveys each national dye industry as a whole on a yearly basis. Finally, to facilitate cross-country comparisons, the national data are pulled together on a global record for a given year. The four levels of the database design and the variables they track are displayed below.