Centripetal and centrifugal forces in the wake of external shocks: A case of financial and business services in the Visegrád Four. (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hashimoto, Tom; Wójcik, Dariusz
• Is Part Of: Applied geography. Volume 134(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: EU accession -- Global financial crisis -- Overlapping institutions -- Financial centres -- Global City; Geography -- Periodicals; Human geography -- Periodicals; Human ecology -- Periodicals; 910
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2021.102522
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0143-6228

Abstract

Abstract: This paper investigates the spatial distribution of employment in financial and business services (FABS) across major metropolitan areas in the Visegrád Four (V4). It addresses a gap in research on financial centres by illustrating overlapping institutional arrangements as an interplay between centripetal and centrifugal forces with the Global City as a theoretical backbone. The interplay is contextualised in two external shocks – EU accession and the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). The regulatory harmonisation and the general trend of capital movement create an opportunity for the capital cities to function as the national gateways to investments. However, the increasing capacity to produce larger and more complex FABS in secondary cities incentivises foreign firms to rearrange their regional office networks. Similarly, while the GFC directly impacted the financial sector, demand for the majority of services was maintained, sustaining the growth trajectories of national financial centres. The empirical analysis reveals that FABS growth in the V4 did not really accelerate in the wake of the accession, nor decelerate in the wake of the GFC. While significant differences between countries remain, the configuration of financial centres within Poland has not changed significantly, suggesting a resilient concentration and hierarchy of financial centres.