The project aims to signify the extent to which the restructuring of the banking and insurance industry over the last decade and the emergence of private equity firms as new financial players calls to rethink the European geography of finance. Paying particular attention to Munich and Vienna as two second-tier financial places, the study sheds light on recent changes in the landscape and scales of European financial centres and addresses the restructuring of the financial service industry against the background of long-term and recent macroeconomic developments. Empirically, the project provides a network analysis of the evolution - including the deteriorations - of the investment portfolios of the 30 largest private equity firms and of the 30 most important European banks and insurance companies on basis of the so called PEI 50 as well as the data provided by the BankScope dataset.

Projektbearbeitung: Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Zademach und Dr. Robert Musil