European Stock markets in the arena of financial globalization

Draft final scientific reportIn the framework of the global financial integration, the deregulation process, IT advances and the recent financialization of the world economy favours transnational financial flows. As a result, the high mobility and ubiquity of capital raise the question of the relevance of geography and places (O’Brien, 1992, Cairncross, 1997). Theoretically, it is possible to raise capital and to list equities on any listing places worldwide. However, far from forming a fluid, smooth and uniform world, the stock exchange industry generates high disparities, creates or revives new boundaries, while simultaneously strengthening the spatial concentration of financial actors within global cities (Sassen, 1991, 2002), and reinforcing the macroregionalization pattern of globalization. The aim of this descriptive study is to observe the impact of globalization on European actors, financial networks and territories, as revealed by stock exchange activities. To do so, the first section introduces the methodology and the scientific positioning, explaining the relevance of cross-border listings to analyse the situation of Europe within global financial flows. The second section attempts to assess the position of European regions, cities and stock markets in the globalization of capital raising and corporate issuers listing strategies. The analysis focuses on the attractiveness, competitiveness and openness of Europe and its stock markets, compared to other macro-regions. Moreover, the context of financial crisis questions its consequences on European stock markets’ attractiveness, once replaced in the wider structural changes of the industry. Finally, the third section aims at highlighting the differentiated and unequal impacts of the global financial integration on territorial structures of Europe. Not only cross-border listings and global financial flows draw new frontiers within Europe, but they also rank listing places into hierarchies, classify stock markets according to their connectedness, the industry’s specialization of their list or even the scope of their attractiveness. Moreover, the aim of this study is descriptive, not prescriptive. However, the findings might suggest path to convert those descriptions into actions. ►►► En ligne depuis février 2012 : http://www.google.fr/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.espon.eu%2Fexport%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2FDocuments%2FProjects%2FAppliedResearch%2FTIGER%2FDFR%2FTIGER_DFR_wp10_stockmarkets.pdf&ei=nXr7VNe0A8S0UZaugbgM&usg=AFQjCNGSqPe2Am18whuD7SQ3WxRU73JCcw&bvm=bv.87611401,d.d2