The thesis responds to Richard O'Brien's pronouncement that geography is rapidly losing
purchase as an explanation of the structure of global financial markets. I suggest that
O'Brien is in error. Drawing on the work of Gordon Clark and Kevin O'Connor, I argue
that financial products have logical, geographical outcomes, predicated on different
informational requirements. 1 consider one particular financial product, venture capital.
Interviews with financial professionals in Vancouver demonstrate that venture capital has
a distinctly local geography of production. Market participants cluster in Vancouver to
maximise access to, and interpretation of, information regarding venture companies.
Contrary to the obliteration of geography, I argue for its continued importance,
represented by the existence of smaller financial hubs, such as Vancouver, and which act
as information niches for specific financial products.
Further, the thesis suggests that the services involved in the production of venture capital
also have distinct geographies. Services have logical locations, dictated by their
informational requirements. I consider three services involved in the production of
venture equities: trading, corporate finance, and sales. Contrasting the periods 1970-1990,
and 1990 to the present, I argue that, because of their informational compositions, the
three services had divergent experiences of technological and regulatory change. In the
period 1970-1990, all three functions were informationally bound to the city. Traders and
salespeople required up-to-the-minute market data, and this demanded a presence near
the Vancouver Stock Exchange. Financiers prioritised information about promoters and
directors of venture companies, and assembled this through face-to-face interaction in
Vancouver. Since 1990, however, the geographies of trading, corporate finance, and sales
have been re-made. As up-to-the minute market information was automated and rendered
almost ubiquitous, trading and sales functions benefited from increased locational
flexibility. Traders centralised, while salespeople decentralised, locating closer to their
clients. The location of financiers, by contrast, changed very little. Still dependent upon
interaction with directors of venture companies, financiers find a Vancouver location
most convenient. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/11454 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Sledge, Rachael N. |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 8432374 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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