Cluster dynamics of financial centres in the UK: do connected firms grow faster?

This study investigates the connection between network centrality and firm growth on a sample of 3224 financial services firms located in the UK in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The findings, based on a spatial econometric model of long-term firm growth, indicate that firms that span structural holes, engage in co-management appointments and have network connections to related companies in other financial centres grow faster. In contrast, such connections generate substantial negative indirect effects on proximate firms, leading to a divergence of growth rates between globally connected and locally embedded firms.