The dynamic you describe is "winner takes all". Expertise
attracts expertise, and face-to-face encounters are essential.
In finance it's been like that since 1300.
Fernand Braudel, in his lovely little book "La Dynamique du Capitalisme" argues that this is also the reason there has always been at any time exactly one financial centre in the world where all the big deals are done.
He lists:
Venice 1380 -- 1500
Antwerp 1500 -- 1555
Genoa 1555 -- 1621
Amsterdam 1621 -- 1780
London 1780 -- 1929
New York 1929 -- present
He lists:
Venice 1380 -- 1500 Antwerp 1500 -- 1555 Genoa 1555 -- 1621 Amsterdam 1621 -- 1780 London 1780 -- 1929 New York 1929 -- present
(For the future see http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200507/fallows).
Maarten van Emden.