Financial geographies and emerging markets in Europe

This study examines the contemporary financial geographies of Central and Eastern Europe and argues how these may affect the established European financial 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 towards emerging centres that exhibit sufficient power to attract multinational financial service firms. In addition, it is empirically assessed from which locations these investments are controlled. The results show a distinct spatial order of financial centres organised around three main city clusters: a 'south-east' cluster controlled by Athens, a 'central-east' cluster controlled by Vienna and a 'Baltic' cluster controlled by both Copenhagen and Stockholm. Based on these results it is argued that these centres of control, and 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.

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