Foreign banks' attraction to the financial centre Frankfurt--an inverted 'U'-shaped relationship
追踪1949至2006年外国银行在德国的选址，发现其集中度呈倒U形，法兰克福因央行设立而崛起，但1980年代中期后份额持续下降，预示二线金融中心在欧洲的角色将减弱。
This article traces the location of foreign banks in Germany from 1949 to 2006. As suggested by New Economic Geography models, we find an inverted 'U'-shaped concentration of foreign banks in Germany. Only after a competition between several cities, Frankfurt has emerged as the pre-eminent financial centre, triggered by the 'historical event' of setting up the German central bank in Frankfurt. After a strong increase, Frankfurt's share in the location of foreign banks in Germany decreases slowly but significantly since the mid-1980s. We conclude that there will be a lesser role in Europe for second-tier financial centres in the future.