Suchergebnisse

GEOFIN research agenda: Financialisation, or the growing power of finance over societies and economies, is increasingly recognised as the key feature of contemporary capitalism. However, significant gaps in our understanding of this process remain. Indeed, despite growing recognition that financialisation is an inherently spatial process, a geographically-informed view of financialisation remains underdeveloped. In addition, and related to this, the extent and the ways in which post-socialist ?transition? societies in East-Central Europe have been financialised remain under-researched and under-theorised. Yet, the examination of former state-socialist societies (built on the very opposite economic logic to that of financialisation) provides an unmatched opportunity to learn about financialisation itself, how it ?penetrates? societies and with what social and spatial implications. East-Central Europe in this sense constitutes a unique terrain for frontier research. GEOFIN research will address the above shortcomings by producing empirical and theoretical insights to develop a geographically-informed view of financialisation. The objective is to examine how states, banks and households in post-socialist contexts have been financialised and to consider what implications this has for the societies in question and for Europeas a whole. The project will pilot a novel approach based on the concept of ?financial chains? which are understood both as channels of value transfer and as social relations that shape socio-economic processes and attendant economic geographies. A set of interlocking case studies will be mobilised to reveal the different ways in which banks, states and households across post-socialist East-Central Europe are interconnected by financial chains with each other and with a wider political economy. GEOFIN research aims to fundamentally advance our understanding of new geographies of financialisation, opening up new horizons in studies of finance and its future role in the society.

ABSTRACT  This paper is concerned with the geography of finance in the globalising knowledge‐based economy, characterised by the proliferation of information and communication technology. More specifically, the paper aims to examine the "locational structure" of financial services in such an economy and its implications for uneven regional development in Europe. In doing so, the paper engages with the concept of "space of flows" and several other theoretical approaches concerned with the geography of advanced producer services and finance. It argues that while such approaches provide a useful starting point, they need be developed further in order to inform an understanding of both the nature and the dynamics of the "locational structure" of financial services and its implications for regional economic development. This point is illustrated in the case of Ireland, focusing on "domestic" banking institutions and "international" financial services operating there. The paper concludes that while "space of flows" provides a useful metaphor for approaching the geography of financial services and other knowledge intensive business services, the conceptual and analytical emphasis should shift towards the "flows of value" that ultimately impinge upon the fortunes of cities and regions.

AbstractThis paper argues that 'spatial monetary policy' may be needed to achieve more territorially balanced economic development. Central banks have been key in fostering financialised economies while also preventing their collapse in times of crisis—a role further strengthened by the coronavirus pandemic. Central banks have thus become the most powerful economic policy-making institutions, just when spatial disparities are likely to deepen. In the context of crisis-ridden financialised capitalism, regional development policies should consider the spatial implications of central bank interventions and recognise monetary policy as a key element of spatial policy. Simultaneously, monetary policy should embrace an explicit spatial agenda.

Abstract
Building on, and going beyond, the state-of-the-art literature, this article aims to advance the analysis and conceptualization of the financialization of households. It argues that there is a need to better conceptualize the household and that the relations between households and other actors in financialized capitalism require further elaboration. Its contribution rests on providing a high-level review of literature and on proposing a relational and activity-orientated approach to the household as a micro-level social institution performing its activities through a web of relationships. Furthermore, it builds on the concept of 'financial chains' to draw attention to power relations and transfers of value between households and other economic actors. In doing so, the article also highlights the uneven ways through which households are inserted into such 'financial chains' and explores social, spatial and temporal dimensions of household financialization. Finally, it suggests avenues for further research.

This paper introduces a special issue of Regional Studies on 'Globalization, City-Regions and Polycentricity in North West Europe'. The issue focuses on the thematic core of the EU-funded project POLYNET: the analysis of economic connections and information flows generated by advanced producer services in eight European polycentric city-regions. The paper first discusses key elements of the current debate on global city-regions and points out some unresolved gaps. A summary of the main findings of the contributions to the special issue is followed by a research agenda for future work on emerging mega-city regions.

The paper engages with the notion that the new spatial logic, underpinned by information and communication technology (ICT) and the 'space of flows', manifests itself in the form of 'informational cities' described as multinuclear spatial structures or polycentric city-regions in the knowledge-based economy. Focusing on the geography of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) the paper argues that there is little evidence of such polycentric pattern emerging within the Greater Dublin Region. The exploration of factors underpinning weak decentralisation tendencies of KIBS opens for reconsideration the concept of the 'informational city'.