Does Geography Matter in Finance? Frontiers, Polarizations, Alternatives and Power Dynamics for Financial Analysis

This chapter aims at contributing to this Handbook with information, analysis and evidences of the role of geographical factors in examining the financial global system. This perspective is rarely taken into account in mainstream financial publications, whilst patterns of localization, polarization, distribution of population and wealth, distance to financial powers or services, geopolitical institutions and their decisions are all factors that the authors deem important to address for an understanding of the current world financial system. This system, in the last decades, has witnessed important changes following the recent crises. These geographical elements are important not only to understand past and present, but are likely to be fundamental to assess future trends. Providing insights on the evolution of the localization patterns of the global financial institutions and the background of the political theory and powers (shifting from Europe, to the US and to the emerging countries), this chapter shows the difficult path for the setting up of a “new world financial order”.