Obstacles in economic cross border interaction across the EU external and Northern Greek border regions
Part of : MIBES Transactions : international journal ; Vol.3, No.1, 2009, pages 115-130
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Pages:
115-130
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Abstract:
Borders seem to be gradually "melting" within EU-27 but at the same time they seem to be "freezing" in the EU's exterior. These processes bring to the foreground consequences not only of "integration" but of "exclusion" too. The emerging new political and economic geography following the collapse of the Eastern block and the recent major eastward European enlargement has initiated a new political and economic geography in Europe. Within this context, spatial economic dynamics at the border areas and the role of boundaries as obstacles in cross border interaction is viewed with interest. "Bridge", "wall", "tunnel", "opportunity", "threat", "borderless", "re-bordering", "debordering", are only some of the terms and notions in bibliography concerning borders and border regions, indicating that this discussion has only just begun. This article attempts to investigate the characteristics of the new economic geography at the EU External borders and the Northern Greek cross border zone as well. More specifically, the following are examined: a) the extent to which city size and distance from borders can influence the strategy of enterprises at the border regions and the level of cross border interaction, b) the association between the cross border economic interaction and the degree of institutional proximity to the EU and c) the barriers related to economic geography, detected along the cross border area of our focus. The above issues are analyzed in the framework of a theoretical discussion and empirical review. The paper deals with a survey conducted at the EU External borders and the Northern. The empirical analysis is based on a research carried out in nine cross border areas within the framework of the EXLINEA European Research project "Lines of Exclusion as Arenas of Co-operation", funded by the European Commission.
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Keywords:
border, obstacles, economic geography, interaction, cooperation
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