The geography of finance: form and functions

The financial system is a core component of any capitalist market economy, as it facilitates the allocation and deployment of economic resources, temporally and spatially, under conditions of risk and uncertainty. As such, understanding the form and functions of finance and financial systems across space and time is key to understanding the geography of economic activity from the local to the global. This paper provides an introduction to the geography of finance through a perspective that is interested in both form and function. As such, it provides a means of understanding the similarities and/or convergence among spatially distinct financial systems, particularly under conditions of global economic integration and market competition.