Function before form: macro-institutional comparison and the geography of finance

This article considers the treatment of institutions and institutional change in relation to finance and macro-institutional comparison in economic geography. Where recent contributions are sympathetic to the ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ framework, this article argues instead for an analytical approach that is attentive to the functions of finance and institutions. While the former contends that institutional function follows from form, the latter reevaluates this relationship. This article illustrates these arguments empirically through a qualitative comparison of the changing form and function of the German financial system and banking sector with that of the USA over the last two decades.