Small jurisdictions active in cross-border financial services occupy fascinating and, in some respects, unique positions in global markets, reflecting the complexity of their political, economic, historical, and cultural linkages with major economies. This raises important questions about how they conceptualize their own capacities and global relationships, and how they market what they have to offer. Simply put, how do small jurisdictions active in cross-border financial services conceptualize their national identities? And how do those identities factor into their economic development strategies? This paper explores how the distinctive features of such ‘market-dominant small jurisdictions’ (MDSJs) highlight aspects of the relationship between national identity and economic development. These include, among other things, the delicate balance between conveying distinctive financial specialization, on the one hand, and familiarity of core legal and market structures, on the other; the complex interplay between national identity and national brand in small, outward-oriented economies; and the genuine ambivalence that may arise from capitalizing on legal and market linkages that generate lucrative opportunities, legitimate successes, and sources of contemporary national pride, yet which may also serve as reminders of painful colonial histories and threaten cultural homogenization amidst powerful global market forces. Section II canvasses various literatures that aim to explain how jurisdictions behave in the economic context, highlighting general insights regarding how national identity might factor into economic development. This discussion focuses on concepts of nationalism, national identity, and nation branding, and how such phenomena might impact one another. Section III, then, considers how these general insights may help illuminate the relationship between national identity and economic development in small jurisdictions, where realities of size and geography prompt substantial outward orientation and incentivize innovations in law and finance to service economic activity largely occurring elsewhere. This includes general discussion of MDSJs, followed by a more concerted look at a particularly vivid case study – the role of national identity in developing, marketing, and maintaining Bermuda’s outsized role in global insurance markets. Section IV briefly concludes
