Starting Position and Opportunities of Regional Financial Centers

European integration and capital liberalisation have intensified competition also in financial markets; as a result, Austria's financial institutions will have to go through a period of structural adjustment. Important aspects of such change are measures to improve the attractiveness of certain locations; an example is Innsbruck as a regional financial center. It is especially difficult for a small financial center to position itself among the long-established centers. Nonetheless, certain promising strategies can be identified; these policies also help to stimulate the regional economy: first, the quality of financial services is of increasing importance as a locational factor; second, the employment and income created by financial centers help to offset the negative effects of the loss of manufacturing jobs in agglomerations.