EH.N: CfP: Financial Centres As Competing Clusters

[Angelo Riva]

Call for papers

Workshop: Financial Centres As Competing Clusters
January 30th, 2008
Paris, Université Paris X Nanterre
10 AM - 6 PM

Call for papers

Financial services have been standing out as 
major activities of large metropolis for 
centuries. Their localization is the result of 
constant competitive pressure among these cities. 
From this importance derives the frequent 
confusion between finance and town as in the 
"City" of London and summarized in the notion of 
"financial centre." The localization of 
international financial centres has been 
anciently and constantly contested among major 
cities and countries. A financial centre emerges 
from a central location, through the aggregation 
of competences and services, under both 
competition and cooperation. A financial centre 
emerges slowly, thanks to the development of 
specialized services in banking, financial 
markets, supervision and specialized information, 
all embedded into national and international 
networks. It must be considered has a cluster or 
a district, coordinating resources, competences, 
organizations and demand. The long term study of 
financial centres -- at least from the 1870s -- 
in their multiple dimensions - local, social, 
economical, juridical, geographical and 
historical - is the purpose of different and 
complementary research projects.

This call is proposed jointly by the participants 
of two research projects: "Paris, a financial 
city in global competition" (PSE, supported by 
the Paris City Council) and "Convergences and 
divergences of national financial systems" (IDHE, 
supported by the Agence Nationale de la 
Recherche).

Papers should be centred on the history of one or 
several national or regional financial centres 
during the 19th or 20th

Century. All aspects of the subject are welcome. 
Nevertheless, the organizers want to focus 
especially the workshop on

1) the social dimension of financial centres 
(prosopographic studies, network analysis of 
business relationships among financiers and their 
major clients);
2) the intra-city geography of "localized systems 
of production" or "financial clusters";
3) the emergence of regulations and 
microstructures in a financial centre or some of 
their constituent parts.

The workshop will consist in a brief presentation 
(5') by the author, followed by an in-depth 
discussion. Submission, to be made before 
December 10th, 2007 to angelo.riva at unimi.it, must 
include a minimum 10 pages draft of the paper to 
be presented. Authors will be notified of 
acceptation before December 20th 2007.

Working languages are French and English.

Transportation and accommodation costs will be 
refunded for all accepted submissions.

Scientific committee: Patrice Baubeau, 
Pierre-Cyrille Hautc¦ur, Michel Lescure, Gilles 
Postel-Vinay and Angelo Riva
Organization committee: Patrice Baubeau and Angelo Riva