The author examines the question of whether the intensive number of commuters can actually be described - as is usually proclaimed in public discourse – as a sign of progressive integration or whether it can be interpreted more as an indication of persistent socio-economic imbalances between the sub-regions. To do this, he juxtaposes political visions with empirical realities. In the conclusion “Grenzüberschreitender Arbeitsmarkt zwischen Anspruch und Wirklichkeit” (Cross-Border Labor Market Between Demand and Reality) Christian WILLE underlines the asymmetrical configuration of employment. On the one hand, this is due to Luxembourg’s strong expansion of the service sector and the central position with regard to cross-border employment associated with it; on the other hand, it is clear to what extent the regions in northern France, for example, are still suffering from the structural change. It is therefore more appropriate to speak of a regional divergence in employment. At the same time, however, this heterogeneity of socio-economic conditions must be recognized as a driving force for cross-border employment.
In “Contribution B/Ordering in the Greater Region. Mobilities – Borders – Identities” Christian WILLE questions the quadrangle inhabitants' sense of belonging as predicted in the model for regional-political cooperation in the Greater Region. The author examines “which orders of self/other are apparent in the self image of the inhabitants of the Greater Region and to what extent they suggest a cross-border identity” (p. 52) and elaborates on three central features of identity constructions.
This study aims to better understand the cross-border consumer’s “out-shopping” behaviors. The research focusses on the particular border space extending from the Arlon region of Belgium, through Longwy in France, to the south of Luxembourg. Based on an analytical construct of psychological characteristics drawn from the literature, a number of consumer profiles are derived from a series of semi-directed interviews with a set of 15 consumers from 3 different countries. Preliminary results point to 3 distinct types of border area consumers, namely, the rather local consumer, the rather global consumer, and a third glocal consumer who buys as much in their own territories as in more distant ones.
At the very heart of the Greater Region, Luxembourg is an important hub of international finance that could well be considered a financial “cluster.” The activity of the financial sector, indeed, contributes directly and indirectly to the economic growth of Luxembourg itself and its neighboring territories. Building on Porter’s approach, this article bears witness to the link between cross-border commuting and the attraction of key competencies, from the perspective of the competitive advantage of Luxembourg’s financial sector. Such a conclusion is backed up by a detailed descriptive analysis of both the cross-border workers themselves and the particularities of the job-market and of the economy in Luxembourg. Testifying to what we might call “procyclic” relationships, these interrelations appear to be impacted by both structural reforms in the catalyst country and by fluctuations in the economy.
Transdisciplinary research is a cross-border process that builds a bridge between academics and society. Since the 1990s, this new research method has been regarded as an approach to investigating complexity and to producing new forms of knowledge. This research approach is also considered promising in the complex field of regional planning and development, as it meets the demand for public participation and can integrate many different perspectives and positions through its cross-border approach. Using the example of experimental trans-disciplinary research on the regional development of the Oberpinzgau region in Austria, Vilsmaier illustrates the concept and methodology of trans-disciplinary research and its added value for spatial planning and development.
This academic journal article discusses the two major dueling schools of thought on the significance of borders in contemporary politics and society, namely those who see an increasingly « borderless world » and those who see new meaning and contexts to studying borders. Here, borders are not only considered as phenomena located at the edges of territories, but rather everywhere in between in societal practices and discourses. In particular, Paasi explains the importance of theory in border studies and develops new conceptual perspectives in order to understand the persistence of bounded territorial spaces.
Natural resource management (NRM) systems are characterized by complex relationships between technical, eco-social, economic, and political processes and perspectives. In the analysis and management of natural resource systems we encounter a multitude of social, disciplinary, cultural, and technical boundaries that can be bridged by a trans- and interdisciplinary research design. Many different concepts for inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration in NRM systems exist already in various research areas in the USA, Switzerland and Great Britain. The concept of “boundary work” provides an additional approach to designing effective and successful trans- and interdisciplinary research on NRM systems and to building bridges between science, politics, and society. In such trans- and interdisciplinary research, various problems arise, which are illustrated by relying on a research project on NRM systems in Uzbekistan.
At the heart of the Greater Region Saar-Lor-Lux, the development of a border-crossing labor force has been met with a diversification of its forms, including cross-border temporary labor. Temp-work agencies have begun to play an important role as intermediaries in these cross-border spaces, privileging the development of particular forms of employment and taking advantage of the different social and fiscal legislation characterizing different jurisdictions, all the while contributing to the recruitment of a cross-border labor-force.
Throughout the Greater Saar-Lor-Lux Region, the development of border work has been accompanied by a diversification of its forms such as temporary cross-border labor. Temporary-work agencies have imposed themselves as new intermediaries of employment in these cross-border spaces, privileging the development of particular forms of employment and taking advantage of the different social and fiscal legislations operating in different jurisdictions, as they contribute to the recruitment of the cross-border labor-force. These detached temporary workers are relatively well-trained and well-qualified, and most of all they are tied to the temporary employment agencies. While such detachment of temporary workers remains the classical form of a flexible labor-force allowing for access to human resources not available in a given jurisdiction, it also represents a tool for the management of cross-border labor-cost differentials. On a larger scale, such practices of cross-border detachment threaten to speed up the process of deterritorializing systems of national law, and compel within the GR increased competition between national regulatory systems that have, notably, to do with finance and social protection.
