Premium
International Banking Centers, Geography, and Foreign Banks
Author(s) -
Tschoegl Adrian E.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
financial markets, institutions and instruments
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.386
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1468-0416
pISSN - 0963-8008
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0416.00034
Subject(s) - rivalry , competition (biology) , international banking , scale (ratio) , business , international finance , financial system , finance , economics , geography , ecology , cartography , macroeconomics , biology
This essay reviews much of the recent literature on international financial centers from both economics and geography and critiques the thesis of an “end of geography.” Banks have dispersed from traditional centers those activities involving frequent routine, standardized, and small‐scale transactions. At the same time, the banks have kept in the international financial centers those activities involving innovative, customized, and large‐scale transactions. In all of this, place still matters, but different places matter for different activities. Finally, foreign banks make their greatest contribution to their host center when the presence of foreign banks enhances domestic competition and innovation. The innovation that the rivalry between institutions induces makes the environment in international financial centers a turbulent one.