Economic Geography of Financial Systems
Summary
The economic geography of financial systems examines how financial institutions, services and capital flows are distributed across space and how this spatial arrangement influences economic development. It explores the formation and evolution of financial centres—from global hubs such as London and New York to regional and emerging nodes—and the hierarchical relationships among them. Central themes include the role of agglomeration economies in concentrating financial expertise and infrastructure, the impact of regulatory regimes and legal frameworks on locational choices, and the dynamics of global financial networks that link markets and intermediaries. Research highlights how financial activity shapes urban primacy, regional inequalities and cross-border investment patterns, with implications for economic resilience, systemic risk and policy interventions aimed at balanced growth. Through both quantitative mapping of financial flows and qualitative analysis of institutional design, this field integrates spatial, institutional and network perspectives to reveal the territorial dimensions of modern finance and its global and local effects.
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Economic Geography of Financial Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in economic geography of financial systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Financial centre: A city or region where financial services are highly concentrated, providing banking, asset management and capital market activities to domestic and international clients.
Agglomeration economies: Benefits that firms obtain by locating near one another, including shared infrastructure, specialised labour pools and knowledge spill-overs.
Urban primacy: The degree to which the largest city in a country dominates economic activity relative to other urban areas.
Global financial network (GFN): The interconnected system of financial institutions, markets and instruments that operate across borders to facilitate capital flows.
Offshore jurisdiction: A territory that offers regulatory and tax advantages to non-resident investors, often serving as a base for international financial transactions.
References
- Finance, Globalization, and Urban Primacy. Economic Geography (2021).
- Luxembourg and Ireland in global financial networks: Analysing the changing structure of European investment funds. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (2022).
- Spatial patterns and influencing factors of financial agglomeration in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. PLOS ONE (2024).
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