Isabelle Pigeron-Piroth
Fonction
Chercheuse
Organisation
Université du Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Borders and cross-border labor markets : opportunities and challenges
Borders and cross-border labor markets : opportunities and challenges
Border Region
Greater Region; Luxembourg
Language(s)
Anglais
Main Category
Introduction
The work presented in this Thematic Issue aims to contribute to analysis of cross-border labor markets, their institutions and the practices of actors in a cross-border context. The various chapters provide a better understanding of the functioning of cross-border labor markets in all their complexity.
Summary
The object of the current Thematic Issue is not to focus on the individuals (the cross-border commuters) but on the organization of the cross-border labor markets. We move from a micro perspective to a macro perspective in order to underline the diversity of the cross-border labor markets (at the French borders, for example) and shed light on the many aspects that impact cross-border supply or demand. Trying to understand the whole system that goes beyond the cross-border flows, the question we address in this thematic issue is about the organization of the labor markets: is the system organized in a cross-border way? Or do the borders still prevent a genuinely integrated cross-border labor market?
Content
Trying to understand the whole system that goes beyond the cross-border flows, the question we address in this thematic issue is about the organization of the labor markets: is the system organized in a cross-border way? Or do the borders still prevent a genuinely integrated cross-border labor market?
The aspects presented in this thematic issue were discussed in two special sessions on this topic (“Cross-border workers and cross-border labor markets”) organized by Rachid Belkacem and Isabelle Pigeron-Piroth at the Association of Borderland Studies Conference in July 2018 in Vienna and Budapest.
The approach is multidisciplinary, using different tools and methods from the fields of socioeconomics, geography, political and intercultural science and also sociology. The overview is broad: from the socioeconomic characteristics of the workers to the impacts on formation, on trade unions, daily mobilities and cross-border activity cycles.
Most of the analyses focus on the Greater Region as one of the most important cross-border labor markets. The chapters were written by academics from the University of the Greater Region and from other European universities.
Contents :
- PREFACE Jean Peyrony, MOT (Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière/Transfrontier Operational Mission)
- EDITORIAL: analyzing cross-border labor markets, Rachid Belkacem and Isabelle Pigeron-Piroth (University of Lorraine & University of Luxembourg)
- SOCIOECONOMIC PROFILES OF CROSS-BORDER COMMUTERS AT THE FRENCH BORDERS: common features and territorial specificities, Rachid Belkacem and Isabelle Pigeron-Piroth (University of Lorraine & University of Luxembourg)
- CROSS-BORDER SKILL FORMATION AND INSTITUTIONAL BRICOLAGE: the case of Luxembourg and its neighbors, Lukas Graf and Daniel Tröhler (Hertie School of Governance & University of Vienna)
- CROSS-BORDER TRADE UNION COOPERATION WITHIN THE GREATER REGION: joint workforce or separated by structures?, Julia Frisch (Trier University)
- CROSSING THE BORDER EVERY DAY: a rhythmic perspective, Guillaume Drevon and Olivier Klein (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne & Luxembourg Institute of Socio-economic Research)
- CROSS-BORDER DYNAMICS OF EMPLOYMENT: examining Luxembourg’s financial cluster, Olivier Damette, Vincent Fromentin and Marc Salesina (University of Lorraine)
- CROSS-BORDER LABOR MARKETS: dynamics and perspectives, Rachid Belkacem and Isabelle Pigeron-Piroth (University of Lorraine & University of Luxembourg)
This Thematic Issue was funded by INTERREG VA Grande Région (“UniGR-Center for Border Studies” project).
Conclusions
The various chapters provide a better understanding of the functioning of cross-border labor markets in all their complexity. Cross-border work appears as a regulator. It fulfills both a quantitative and a qualitative adjustment function between the needs of enterprises and the availability of labor and qualifications across borders. These needs vary from one area to another and not all cross-border workers have the same profiles. But while cross-border work can push boundaries to widen recruitment zones for companies and areas of investigation for individuals (geographic expansion of supply and demand), the border persists and has impacts on sectors of activity of cross-border workers, for example (underrepresentation in non-salaried activities, agricultural or administrative jobs, for example).
On institutional issues, including the organization of training or cross-border trade union cooperation, the border re-mains present. Concerning vocational training and the education system, in the absence of a common and integrated training system the border situation then appears as a possibility of diversification of the training offers. Indeed, the analysis shows us that the geographical border situation constitutes an advantage because the labor market feeds on the inflow of labor and skills from neighboring countries. By analyzing the feasibility conditions of cross-border trade union cooperation, it appears that the border can also act as a break because of the institutional, organizational and cultural differences in national union practices. However, despite the difficulties encountered, cross-border initiatives are multiplying.
Few border workers have activities outside their daily home/work shuttle. They may have difficulty reconciling professional activities and carrying out domestic activities but the practices and profiles are really heterogeneous.
Although relations between economic dynamics, sectoral dynamics and evolutions in the number of cross-border workers are difficult to analyze, a causal link appears. This result in some way corroborates our hypothesis that cross-border work is a regulator of the cross-border labor market.
Lead
University of Lorraine, University of Luxemburg
Author of the entry
Contributions
Transfrontier Operational Mission, University of Lorraine, University of Luxembourg, Hertie School of Governance, University of Vienna, Trier University, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne & Luxembourg Institute of Socio-economic Research.
Keywords
Contact Person(s)
Date of creation
2020