Volume 59, Issue 4

(Post-)Constructivist perspectives in financial geography - introduction to the special issue. Economic activities in the financial sector are heavily dependent on social values, attitudes and routines. Recent advances in financial geography and neighbouring disciplines, most notably constructivist approaches, put forth remarkable achievements that improve our prospects in conceptualising the societal aspects of financial activities in general and financial places in specific. This editorial paper provides an overview on these advances and reflects on both the strength and weakness and the methodological foundations of constructivist approaches in studying financial geographies against the background of longer-term epistemological developments.

Spaces of calculation, calculating space: Geographies of financial economization. Utilizing the concept of financial economization and the empirical examples of the asset classes farmland and real estate, this paper shows that the mobilization of capital in the domain of portfolio management hinges upon boundary drawing, legitimization and rationalization practices that align the properties and historical time of the natural and built environment with the frames of valuation and time of financial markets. In practice, these activities resemble a constant (re)negotiation of investment horizons.

Financial geographers utilise realist economic and rather anti-realist sociologic theories. Yet, theories from both traditions seem to contradict each other metatheoretically. The new realist ontology promises to settle this metatheoretical contradiction by preserving the realist claim on trueness with the concept of fields of sense without rejecting the plurality of human perspectives. This paper exemplarily demonstrates that realist and rather anti-realist theories accord with the new realist ontology. Further, using an empirical example of bank-based small-firm lending it illustrates that the combined use of theories from both traditions advances our understanding of modern finance.

Performative capital market practices. The case of socially responsible investments in Germany. Socially responsible investment (SRI), also referred to as sustainable, responsible or impact investing, is an investment discipline that does not only take conventional financial criteria into account (most notably return, risk and liquidity), but also puts emphasis on environmental, social, governance (ESG) considerations to generate long-term competitive financial returns and positive societal impact. Key instrument in this market are so-called sustainability ratings which seek to assess the economic, environmental and social values and performance of potential investment objects. Such ratings are produced by a worldwide growing, but still limited number of private rating agencies that offer a dazzling variety of - in some cases even contradictory - ratings, rankings, indices and awards that have an enormous potential to influence investment decisions of all kind of investors. Applying a cultural geographies of economies approach, the paper in-hand aims to shed new light on this particular group of financial agents and their particular practices. It presents original qualitative data from Germany that delivers insights on the different ways these agencies follow in their assessments, how they define, operationalize and perform the notion of sustainability, and how effective they are in actually contributing to a more sustainable world.

Trajectories of the financial center Vienna. Transformation from a weak to a strong history? The financial center of Vienna experienced a dynamic internationalization during the 1990s and early 2000s, which was focused on the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Although Viennese banks were irrelevant players on the European scale, Bank Austria, Erste Bank, and Raiffeisen International became the largest foreign banks in this region. Following the concept of path dependency, this article identifies this period as a “strong history” and traces this story of success back to historic pre-1989 conditions: a “weak history”. Based on quantitative research and expert interviews, this paper shows the personal and institutional continuities of Viennese banks in the CEE region, which outlasted the historic break of 1989.