Financial Geographies and Emerging Markets in Europe

This study examines the contemporary financial geographies in Central and Eastern Europe and argues how these may affect the established European finacial centre network in the future. As the development of the financial sector in Europe’s emerging markets is largely dependent on foreign investments, explicit attention is directed to determine which emerging centres exhibit sufficient power to attract multinational financial service firms. In addition, it is empirically assessed form which locations these investments are controlled. The results show a distinct spatial order of financial centres organized around three main city clusters: a ‘south-east’ cluster controlled by Athens, a ‘central-east’ cluster around Vienna and a ‘Baltics’ cluster directed from Copenhagen and Stockholm. Based on the results it is argued that these centres of control, with Vienna in particular, may enhance their competitiveness as a financial centre due to their strategic position in the growing markets of Central and Eastern Europe.