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Cables, Sharks and Servers: Technology and the Geography of the Foreign Exchange Market

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  • Barry Eichengreen
  • Romain Lafarguette
  • Arnaud Mehl

Abstract

We analyze the impact of technology on the production and trade in services, focusing on the location of foreign exchange transactions and the effect of submarine fiber-optic cable connections. Cable connections between local markets and major financial centers reduce the costs of trading currencies locally and increase the share of currency transactions taking place in the issuing country. But they also attenuate the effect of existing spatial frictions that prevent transactions from moving offshore to take advantage of agglomeration economies and thick-market advantages of major financial centers. In practice, this second effect dominates. Our estimates suggest that the advent of cable connections boosted the share in global turnover of London, the world’s largest trading venue, by as much as one-third.

Suggested Citation

  • Barry Eichengreen & Romain Lafarguette & Arnaud Mehl, 2016. "Cables, Sharks and Servers: Technology and the Geography of the Foreign Exchange Market," NBER Working Papers 21884, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21884
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yin-Wong Cheung & Robert N McCauley & Chang Shu, 2019. "Geographic spread of currency trading: The renminbi and other EM currencies," GRU Working Paper Series GRU_2019_011, City University of Hong Kong, Department of Economics and Finance, Global Research Unit.
    2. Zouheir El-Sahli, 2020. "Submarine cables, the internet backbone and the trade in services," Discussion Papers 2020-05, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    3. Joël Cariolle & Yasmine Elkhateeb & Mathilde Maurel, 2022. "(Mis-)information technology: Internet use and perception of democracy in Africa," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 22010, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    4. Cheung, Yin-Wong & Grimm, Louisa & Westermann, Frank, 2021. "The evolution of offshore renminbi trading: 2016 to 2019," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    5. Lopez Cordova,Jose Ernesto, 2020. "Digital Platforms and the Demand for International Tourism Services," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9147, The World Bank.
    6. Wache, Benjamin, 2021. "Information Frictions, Global Capital Markets, and the Telegraph," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242444, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    7. Andreas Schrimpf & Vladyslav Sushko, 2019. "Sizing up global foreign exchange markets," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, December.
    8. Sam Haltenhof, "undated". "Services Trade and Internet Connectivity," Working Papers 668, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan.
    9. Frank Westermann, 2023. "On the Geographical Dispersion of Euro Currency Trading: An Analysis of the First 20 Years and a Comparison to the RMB," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 65(2), pages 263-287, June.
    10. Theodore Pelagidis & Eleftheria Kostika, 2022. "Investigating the role of central banks in the interconnection between financial markets and cryptoassets," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 49(3), pages 481-507, September.
    11. Angelo D'Andrea & Nicola Limodio, 2019. "High-Speed Internet, Financial Technology and Banking in Africa," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 19124, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    12. Paulo Sergio Ceretta & Alexandre Silva Da costa, 2017. "The Gap Effect on the Brazilian Exchange," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(4), pages 2505-2516.

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