Abstract
Globalisation, financialisation and technology have fuelled competition among international financial centres (IFCs), with investment banks playing an important part in the process. This study introduces novel data on cross-border investment banking revenues in 2000-2014 by city, and investigates their determinants. It shows that IFCs emerge from cities that are already leading domestic financial centres, with large, deep, flexible and open labour markets, and a large and internationalised non-financial sector, in countries with strong rule of law and contract enforcement. Stock market returns, corporate- and finance-specific taxation, English as the official language, and legal family of origin do not seem to matter.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | lbx008 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-33 |
| Number of pages | 33 |
| Journal | Journal of Economic Geography |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2018 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Institutions
- International financial centres
- Investment banking
- Labour market
- Taxation