エウレギオとEU国境地域政策

Статья посвящена исследованию состояния и перспектив использования венчурного рынка в организации трансграничной цифровой кооперации российских высокотехнологичных компаний. Методология. При подготовке теоретического раздела научного исследования, посвященному изучению методов оценки зрелости венчурного рынка и применяемых моделей трансграничной кооперации высокотехнологичных бизнесов, применялись общенаучные методы (наблюдение, сравнение, измерение, анализ и синтез, метод логического рассуждения, критический обзор научной литературы и профессиональных публикаций). Для осуществления анализа количественных параметров состояния российского венчурного рынка использовались конкретно-научные методы (статический анализ, графический метод), для формирования предложений по инкорпорации венчурного рынка в процессы кооперации высокотехнологичных компаний использовался экспертный метод и метод сценариев. Результаты. В рамках научного исследования проведена количественная и качественная оценка развития российского венчурного рынка, определены основные проблемные аспекты, мешающие его более активному участию в организации трансграничной цифровой кооперации российских высокотехнологичных компаний. В завершении исследования были сформулированы предложения по стимулированию процессов инкорпорации агентов венчурного рынка в процессы цифровой кооперации российских высокотехнологичных компаний и оказания им финансовой и управленческой поддержки с учетом опыта лучших мировых практик. Выводы / значимость. В рамках научного исследования было установлено, что основным проблемам повышения вовлеченности венчурного рынка в процессы трансграничной цифровой кооперации российских высокотехнологичных компаний следует отнести: 1) концентрация инновационной активности и высокотехнологичных бизнесов в небольшом портфеле отраслей: ИКТ, биотехнологии, военно-промышленный комплекс; 2) слабые интеграционные связи между российскими частными VC- и PE-фондами; 3) обострение военно-политических противоречий между РФ и мировыми лидерами, приведшее к ограничению и запрету на трансферт технологий и участие в совместных инновационных проектах; 4) поощрение государственным регулятором сотрудничества с государственными объектами инновационной инфраструктуры. К наиболее эффективным предложениям по разрешению проблемных аспектов следует отнести: 1) формирование партнерских связей между венчурными фондами и корпоративными лабораториями / R&D-платформами высокотехнологичных бизнесов; 2) инициация пилотных программ кооперации венчурных фондов и объектов инновационной инфраструктуры в единое пространство; 3) популяризация практики участия венчурных фондов в создании эндаумент-фондов в ведущих университетах; 4) популяризация трансграничной кооперации через инструменты мягкой силы. Применение. Результаты научного исследования состояния и перспектив интеграции венчурного рынка в процессы трансграничной цифровой кооперации российских высокотехнологичных компаний будет полезно экспертам в сфере инновационной политики при формировании прогнозов и сценариев инновационного сотрудничества России со странами-партнёрами ЕАЭС и мировыми центрами инноваций: Китаем, США, ЕС. Ключевые слова: венчурный рынок, цифровая кооперация, открытые инновации, инновационная экосистема, венчурные фонды, эндаумент-фонды, «мягкая сила», Россотрудничество. Smart integration: using the venture capital market to organise digital cooperation of Russian high-tech companies across borders This article explores the status and prospects of using the venture capital market in organizing cross-border digital cooperation among Russian high-tech companies. Methodology. In preparing the theoretical section of the paper, the methods for maturity as-sessment of the venture capital market and models for cross-border cooperation of high-tech busi-nesses were investigated using general scientific methods (observation, comparison, measurement, analysis and synthesis, method of logical reasoning, critical review of scientific literature and profes-sional publications). Quantitative analysis of Russian venture capital market status was performed by using specific scientific methods (static analysis, graphical method), while expert and scenario meth-ods were used to generate proposals on venture capital market incorporation into processes of high-tech companies’ cooperation. Results. The research conducted a quantitative and qualitative assessment of Russian venture capital market development, identified major problematic aspects hindering its more active participa-tion in the organization of cross-border digital cooperation of Russian hi-tech companies. In conclu-sion of the research, we formulated proposals to encourage venture capital market agents to be incor-porated into the processes of digital cooperation among Russian hi-tech companies, and to provide them with financial and managerial support based on the best international practices. Conclusions / Significance. In this research, it was determined that the main problems in in-creasing venture capital market involvement in the processes of cross-border digital cooperation of Russian high-tech companies are as follows: 1) concentration of innovation activity and high-tech businesses in a small portfolio of sectors: ICT, biotechnology, military-industrial complex; 2) weak integration links between Russian private VC and PE funds; 3) aggravation of military and political contradictions between Russia and world leaders, which led to limitations and bans on technology transfer and participation in joint innovation projects; 4) state regulator's encouragement of coopera-tion with state-run innovation infrastructure facilities. The most effective proposals for solving the problematic aspects include: 1) formation of part-nerships between venture funds and corporate laboratories/R&D-platforms of high-tech businesses; 2) initiation of pilot programs of cooperation of venture funds and innovation infrastructure objects into a common space; 3) popularization of the practice of venture funds participation in creation of en-dowment funds in leading universities; 4) popularization of cross-border cooperation through soft power tools. Application. The results of the scientific study of the state and prospects of venture market inte-gration in the processes of cross-border digital cooperation of Russian high-tech companies will be useful to experts in the field of innovation policy in forming forecasts and scenarios of innovative co-operation of Russia with the EAEU partner countries and the world innovation centers: China, the USA and the EU.

В статье рассматриваются основные направления, тенденции и перспективы приграничного и регионального сотрудничества Монголии и России (на примере Республики Бурятия). Дан исторический экскурс приграничного со-трудничества, который позволил реконструировать давние торгово-экономические и добрососедские связи между Россией и Монголией. На основе статистических данных по состоянию на 2018–2019 гг. проведён анализ динамики двухстороннего торгового оборота, инвестиционного сотрудничества и современного состояния торгово-экономического сотрудничества Республики Бурятия и Монголии. Установлено, что в рамках реализации трёхстороннего экономического коридора «Россия – Монголия – Китай» приграничное сотрудничество между Монголией и Республикой Бурятия имеет высокий потенциал экономического и инвестиционного развития. Особое внимание уделяется существующим препятствиям в приграничном российско-монгольском сотрудничестве и анализируются пути их преодоления. Сделан вывод, что Республика Бурятия среди приграничных регионов РФ является основным торгово-экономическим партнёром Монголии, развивает культурные, образовательные и гуманитарные связи. The article discusses the main directions, trends and prospects of cross-border and regional cooperation between Mongolia and Russia (on the example of the Republic of Buryatia). A historical excursion of cross-border cooperation was given, which made it possible to reconstruct the long-standing trade, economic and good-neighborly ties between Russia and Mongolia. Based on statistical data, an analysis of the dynamics of bilateral trade, investment cooperation and the current state of trade and economic cooperation of the Republic of Buryatia and Mongolia was carried out. It has been established that in the context of implementing the trilateral economic corridor of «Russia-Mongolia-China», cross-border cooperation between Mongolia and the Republic of Buryatia has a high potential for economic development. Attention has been paid to the existing obstacles in the cross-border Russian-Mongolian cooperation and the ways of overcoming them. It is concluded that the Republic of Buryatia among the border regions is the main trade and economic partner of Mongolia, and develops cultural, educational and humanitarian ties.

The ease in mobility of people across the U.S.-Mexico border region provides a natural setting for analyzing the role of economic interdependency on consumer credit outcomes. Since the U.S. and Mexican economies are not entirely synchronized and have different growth rates, the growing Mexican border economy is likely to increase the consumption of U.S. goods and services in the region, and provide additional job opportunities to the U.S. border residents. Thus, the effect of being located at the border (‘border effect’) might reduce default and bankruptcy in the U.S. However, if both economies are nearly perfectly correlated, then the ‘border effect’ is likely to be insignificant. Our results are consistent with the border effect lowering the rate of bankruptcies and mortgage defaults in the U.S. counties that share a border with Mexico. An increase in the level of economic interdependency, as measured by the differential economic growth between Mexican municipalities and their sister U.S. county, decreases the bankruptcy rates in the U.S. border region. Overall, this research helps understand credit risk issues in the U.S.-Mexico border region.

Potentially, the participation of small and medium-sized businesses in cross-border cooperation in the border regions of the country should intensify its development, bring specificity to it. However, the analysis showed that there is no noticeable specificity in the dynamics of employment in the field of small and medium-sized businesses in non-priority geostrategic border areas in comparison with other regions of Russia, incl. the crisis year 2020. As in the country as a whole, the development of small and medium-sized businesses in these border areas is difficult, unstable, multidirectional, moreover, in line with the longterm tendency towards its curtailment. Against the background of a generally unfavorable economic, including entrepreneurial, climate, the specifics of the functioning of small and medium-sized businesses in the border areas are hardly distinguishable. This lack of distinction confirms the low estimates of the degree of openness of the Russian economy, the fact that a significant part of the border regions are depressed. With a low level of openness, the potential opportunities from cross-border and other economic cooperation with foreign countries in such Russian territories are poorly realized and play a secondary role. Nonpriority border regions to a greater extent perform “barrier functions” due to geostrategic reasons, rather than the functions of economic growth points.

This article explores the conditions under which local and regional governments will establish and sustain cross-border co-operation in the fields of police, fire fighting and emergency health services. It argues that understanding this type of cross-border co-operation requires a focus on the way in which professionals define and apply their professional standards in cross-border contexts. Moreover, it requires a focus on individual organizations and professionals working in them, rather than ‘government’ or ‘the state’ as a whole, since cross-border co-operation in these areas typically develops as a result of disparate and unconnected initiatives taken by governmental actors in a given border region. Based on four studies of cross-border co-operation in Dutch border regions, we argue that differences in legal, organizational and cultural backgrounds between the participating countries can be and are overcome by street-level professionals and their organizations, who act as ‘regionauts’ in exploring opportunities for cross-border co-operation. In this type of ‘bottom-up’ cross-border co-operation, motivation among participants is the key to establishing co-operation, and solutions to differences between work routines will be developed along the way. As a result, the establishment of cross-border co-operation often is an experimental, pragmatic enterprise, which is greatly affected by local intra- and inter-organizational dynamics. This opens the potential for pragmatic, flexible and creative solutions. Yet, at the same time it also runs the risk of producing unaccountable cross-border arrangements that are insufficiently embedded in legal and professional safeguards against error and abuse.

This article compares levels and patterns of offences in different parts of Lithuania with the aim of assessing whether border regions are more susceptible to crime than the rest of the country. The article focuses on identifying and explaining these patterns for selected categories of offences while taking account of contextual factors. Spatial statistical techniques and Geographic Information Systems underpin the methodology employed. Findings suggest that there are variations in the level and geography of offences between border regions and the rest of the country. Despite the fact that the highest average increases in recorded criminal offences were found in two border regions, non-border regions had a higher average increase in the 1990s. This partially explains why, out of the six selected offences, only assault shows an increase owing to the ‘border effect’. The proportion of the population living in urban areas is by far the most important covariate in explaining the regional variations in offence ratios.

This article estimates the effect of the Dutch–German border on house prices. We argue that the difference between house prices at the border indicates the willingness to pay to stay in a country compared to living across the border. After a change in the tax rules in 2001, migration from the Netherlands to Germany increased substantially and the gradient of Dutch house price towards the German border steepened. Combining a German and Dutch real estate dataset and using different estimation strategies, we find that asking prices of comparable housing drop by about 16% when one crosses the Dutch–German border.

Cross-border cooperation is a distributive policy that provides funds to the Union's border regions. It was founded as a distributive policy before and independently from enlargement policy and was subsequently integrated in the Copenhagen framework. In the enlargement context, the functional demands on cross-border cooperation differed, however, from the previous purpose of abolishing EU internal borders. This entailed a substantial redefinition of objectives and extended the Commission's action capacity into the realm of foreign policy. Although cross-border cooperation remains under the administrative responsibility of the Directorate General Regional Policy, the following analysis will not so much concentrate on the extension of EU regional policies. To capture the essential features of new Commission capacities in the sphere of foreign policy, the emphasis is on the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). ENP is a crucial innovation in the EU's foreign policy repertoire, which draws heavily on the enlargement experience. Within ENP, cross-border cooperation served from the start as a consolidated instrument that granted substantive foreign policy action capacity to the Commission.KeywordsForeign PolicyBorder RegionCandidate StateDistributive PolicyExternal BorderThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Border regions have several features and affect the formation of life strategies of the population living in them. Border regions from the point of view of state development as a whole perform two main functions: barrier - protection of sovereignty and national security and contact - interaction with the neighbouring states. From these positions, an analysis was carried out. Young people have several concerns about China's threats, but most view the neighbouring country as a partner. The contact function was considered through the prism of models of sociocultural interaction: acculturation, cooperation, cognitive, educational, role training, consumer, migration. The author separated another model based on answers of respondents that are not provided in the framework of the above typology - getting medical and beauty services. Within each model, an analysis of youth participation, adoption or rejection of the corresponding behaviour model and the use of opportunities of the border areas was carried out. Undoubtedly, the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic affected cross-border cooperation. However, the development and introduction of digital innovations and the use of new interaction tools allow us to continue the active cross-border cooperation, despite the isolationist measures at both countries. The author concludes that cross-border cooperation is reflected in the perceptions of young people and is an integral element of their behaviour and consciousness.

Cross-border regional economic ties in the EU have been the subject of numerous studies across various academic fields. A special dose of attention, however, has been paid to the ties between the EU border regions. This is no doubt related to the intensification of European integration, in particular at the regional level. One source of particular impact on border regions is the economy of the common market. Surprisingly enough, this economy has not found its proper reflection in the research on border regions and their problems in the light of the broadly defined European regional studies. As a consequence, it is necessary to carry out an in-depth analysis of the literature on cross-border cooperation and economic integration in order to capture the impact of the single market on cross-border relations. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to analyze the economic determinants of cross-border economic ties between the EU regions. To this end, the text begins with an overview of (1) the key characteristics of the common market, followed by (2) the impact of market economics on the regional ties, with particular emphasis on the border regions. The problem has been illustrated on the basis of the Polish-German borderland. The conducted examinations indicate that the economic ties between border regions vary in intensity. At the same time, the vicinity of the border is often insufficient as a factor ensuring a high degree of intensity in the movement of production factors or business relations across the border. It is market mechanisms rather than the location on the border that comprise the primary determinant in this regard. The primary focus of this study is the movement of production factors. The methodology of this text has been based primarily on the analysis of the subject literature on the notions of market economics, optimum currency area, and the broadly defined European regional studies.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to critically assess the theoretical underpinnings and extant progress of the research on regional multi-national enterprises (MNEs) and offer a blueprint for future research by re-conceptualizing how (regional) boundaries relate to the international diversification of MNEs.Design/methodology/approach– The paper integrates key insights from the theory of the regional MNE and economic geography to re-orient the treatment of regional borders within international business (IB) literature.Findings– The paper suggests that the (L) component within the ownership location and internalization (OLI) paradigm should be disaggregated into continuous “distance effects” and discrete “border effects”. Within this rubric, regional borders represent discrete border effects that generate discontinuities that are permeable, fluid and firm specific. Such reconceptualization opens up avenues for future research and more tightly integrates the research on regional MNEs with other research streams.Research limitations/implications– IB scholars need to make concerted effort to think of regions as one among several parameters in studying the strategy and structure of MNEs. A stronger focus on internal processes and mechanisms elucidating the main drivers of MNEs strategies is needed.Originality/value– The paper offers innovative ways in which future research can advance the study of how regions matter in the internationalization strategy of MNEs.

Seven years after the accession of Poland and the Czech Republic into the European Union (EU) the intensity and the quality of cross-border cooperation along the new internal borders are still lagging behind. The physical barriers have been removed with the Schengen Agreement coming into force in 2007. However, the legal, institutional and mental barriers of cross-border cooperation still persist. Cross-border cooperation in spatial planning is often discontinuous and does not meet the expectations of the concerned parties. At the same time, the political pressure to cooperate is high and considerable financial means are available for territorial cooperation in the EU Structural Funds period of 2007–2013. On the basis of three case studies in the area of the German–Polish border, the paper illustrates that there is a lack of knowledge and deficient competences for cross-border cooperation in municipalities and regional administrations. Impeding and supporting factors for cooperation have been identified. It has been proven that institutional capacity among the cooperating partners is crucial. The paper presents recommendations on how to design and manage cross-border communications to achieve transboundary strategy development for efficient and sustainable regional development in Central Europe's border regions.

This article explores the scope of institutionalization of civil society organizations (CSOs) engaged in cross-border cooperation (CBC) between Czechia and Germany. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with representatives of CSOs, the analysis combines Bourdieu’s theory of field and forms of capital with Berger and Luckmann’s theory of institutionalization. Combining these two theoretical perspectives offers an original interpretative approach, which contributes to Border Studies by specifying how “border effects” are mediated through the cross-border valuation and convertibility of different forms of capital, and why many people-to-people initiatives remain institutionally fragile despite decades of European integration. While economic and social capitals are easily transferable across borders, cultural and symbolic capitals are less transferable across borders and remain strongly anchored in national fields. The analysis also shows that project-based, short-term funding causes organizational fragility and is among the main hindrances to institutionalization of CBC activities. It also reveals a discernible asymmetry between Czech CSOs on the one side and German on the other, where CSOs enjoy more supportive economic and symbolic capitals.

The objective of this research was to improve the accuracy and representativeness of experimental plot studies by determining the optimum plot area and replication number for winter wheat with border irrigation. Considering the spatial distribution of soil water content, the border effect in relation to crop growth, and the lateral seepage of soil water, we sought to study and optimize the area and specifications of irrigation experiment plots with different levels and replicates. The results show that the experimental irrigation plot consisted of two parts—the core area and the guard area. The most suitable area for the experiment plot core area, with a single level and without replicates, was 60–80 m2. The core experimental area can be arranged with two replicates per 40 m2, with differences in soil moisture content between the treatments reaching more than 15% at the two experiment levels. Each plot comprised two replicates, or if they were 20 m2, then they contained three replicates; when the soil moisture contents differed between 10% and 15%, the area of each replicate plot was 80 m2, comprising two replicates, or 30 m2 with three replicates. When the difference in soil moisture content between the treatments exceeded 15% with the three experimental levels, the area of each plot was 30 m2 and they contained two replicates, or 20 m2 containing three replicates; at differences of 10% to 15%, each replicate plot was 50 m2 containing two replicates, or 30 m2 with three replicates. The experimental plots were rectangular, with irrigation furrows dug lengthwise; therefore, the plots had aspect ratios between 7:1 and 5:1. The width of the buffer area was over 60 cm. The effect of the border on plant height and LAI for winter wheat primarily emerged with one to three rows (20–60 cm) at the jointing stage, while the effect on grain yield and biomass in winter wheat mainly emerged with one to two rows (20–40 cm). The conclusions of this research will inform the development of surface irrigation methods for silt loam in northern Henan, as a reference for optimizing experiment plots employing border irrigation with different soil textures.

The article examines whether the goal of territorial cohesion can be achieved in the area designated ‘Inner Scandinavia’ through the interventions of the European Union's cross-border cooperation programme, INTERREG-A. The programme supports a polycentric development of the Inner Scandinavian border region, which is one of three Swedish-Norwegian INTERREG-A sub-programmes. Since 1994 substantial progress has been made in the Swedish-Norwegian INTERREG-A programme, which recently ended its third generation (2007–2013), with the overarching goals of strengthening the attractiveness and competitiveness of the border region. Progress can be witnessed in the improved selectivity of the projects, which have become fewer, with more funding and more focus on innovation, and of the involved partners, with increasing participation by universities and research centres. However, despite the maturity of the Nordic cross-border programme, many challenges lie ahead. In general, the Swedish-Norwegian border region continues to lag behind in the Scandinavian socio-economic context, in which the main urban agglomerations (Stockholm, Oslo, and Gothenburg) benefit from competitive territorial advantages such as human capital, knowledge centres, decision-making structures, access to capital, and accessibility.