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While earlier research has shown that regional restructuring after reunification has ledto broad de-industrialization processes in eastern Germany’s chemical industry, thisarticle focuses on how re-bundling processes at the corporate level have stimulatedadjustments to the changing economic and political environment leading to a renewedregional development trajectory. The analysis is based on a conceptualization thatassesses diachronic processes of rupture and re-bundling by applying a bottom-upperspective of how corporate adjustments and restructuring processes generatere-bundling types that manifest themselves in broader regional re-bundling scenarios.The empirical analysis focuses on a qualitative case study of Bitterfeld-Wolfen, theeastern region with the largest chemical industry. The research provides evidence that,although new firm formation has remained weak and acquisitions of chemicalmultinationals have generated structures only tenuously embedded in the regionaleconomy, modernization and re-bundling process have contributed to a renewed, smalleryet stable, regional chemical industry. The analysis further shows that the associatedprocesses depended on the roles of individual industrial leaders in the region, who actedas network builders, mobilized joint action and stimulated the development of acollective regional spirit.
