Reframing labour market mobility in global finance: Chinese elites in London’s financial district

Abstract

In this paper, I use the case of elite Chinese financial mobility to London's financial district to argue that comparatively neglected forms of elite financial migration from beyond the Global North provide important insights into the changing geographical form, and labour market practices within, leading international financial centres. By reporting on original empirical research, two main findings emerge. First, Chinese financial mobility to London has a distinctive geographical footprint in terms of both financial services activity and residential choices. Second, the rationale behind elite Chinese financial mobility to London cannot be fully explained by existing work on highly skilled migration and expatriation that emphasises the economic imperatives driving mobility. In response, I argue that work on elite mobility requires a fuller engagement with wider debates in economic geography that examine the interdependencies and interrelationships between states and markets. These findings raise important questions surrounding the durability of Chinese finance in London, its relationship to global finance in London more generally, and wider understandings of elite financial labour markets.

Beaten paths towards the transnational corporate elite

“…Most Asian corporate boards are well integrated into the global corporate network: individuals holding positions in one of these Asian regions accept additional positions in European, American, Oceanian regions, and these Asian corporate boards are also becoming open to individuals with international experiences. There is a strong regional elite cohesion within this region but at the same time we observe the growth of some regional economies (mostly Chinese) and their strengthening position within the transnational corporate elite network (Beaverstock, 2018; Hall, 2019; Pan et al, 2018). It is becoming more common for the largest Chinese firms to form board interlock ties with the largest corporations all across the globe and in this way to be integrated into the global corporate elite network (De Graaff, 2020; De Graaff and Valeeva, 2021).…”

Subverting the “migrant division of labor” through the traditional retail market: the London Latin Village’s struggle against gentrification

“…The literature that focuses on migrants' working trajectories and conditions is particularly fruitful for this discussion. This body of work has looked at the experiences of elite and middle-class migrants (Batnizky et al, 2007;Hall, 2019) but also at the economic precarity and social marginalization of migrant groups in the labor market. Herbert et al (2008) show how racism is an everyday experience in the working lives of low-paid Ghanaian workers in London and prevents them from moving into better-paid employment.…”

How financial products organize spatial networks: Analyzing collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations as “networked products”

“…Second, as sites which navigated regulatory difference bridging on- and off-shore jurisdictions (Aalbers, 2018; Clark et al, 2015; Haberly and Wójcik, 2015), which could be either global financial centers or smaller specialized off-shore financial centers acting as conduits or sinks for flows of assets (Garcia-Bernardo et al, 2017). Third, as sites to initiate, evaluate, and close business transactions, in a labor process fostered by trust, reputation, and reciprocity (Beaverstock and Hall, 2012; Dorry, 2016; Hall, 2011, 2019). Fourth, as sites that generated demand for adjunct advisory and administrative expertise through the intermediation of advanced business services, sustaining the work of particular epistemic communities within and between on- and off-shore jurisdictions (Clark et al, 2015; Cook et al, 2007; Hall, 2009; Wójcik, 2013b).…”