Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 5

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT CALL FOR PAPERS SPECIAL ISSSUE: CROSS BORDER ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

IN BORDER REGIONS Guest Editors Professor David Smallbone, Small Business Research Centre (SBRC), Kingston University, UK Professor Friederike Welter, JIBS, Jnkping University, Sweden The Journal Entrepreneurship and Regional Development provides a multi-disciplinary forum for researchers and practitioners in the field of entrepreneurship and small business development, with a regional development orientation. The journal focuses on the diverse and complex characteristics of local and regional economies, which lead to the emergence of entrepreneurship, innovation and economic vitality. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development is included in the ISI Citation Index. Context It may be argued that cross border entrepreneurship offers potential benefits for regions as well as for individual enterprises. For entrepreneurs, it offers an opportunity to access new markets and sources of supply, as well as capital, labour and technology, although the nature and extent of these opportunities is likely to be affected by the relative level of economic development on either side of the border. For regions, cross border entrepreneurship may contribute to economic development in areas that are typically peripheral to the core of economic activity in their national territories (Blatter, 2000). In this context, cross border entrepreneurship may be viewed as a potential asset for regional development in border regions that policy makers can actively promote. The term cross border entrepreneurship is used to describe economic activity which involves partners on two sides of a national border. An alternative description is cross border cooperation that involves some form of business or entrepreneurial activity. Although currently topical in Europe, economic development in border regions is a global issue, with cross border co-operation offering many potential benefits for SMEs in both well developed and less developed regions. For example, the economic success of the southern provinces of China from 1980s onwards largely came about because of the highly efficient cross-border SME alliances and joint ventures involving mainland Chinese businesses and Hong Kong-based SMEs (Zewen et al, 1991). The links forged between businesses Singapore and those in parts of Malaysia and Indonesia have helped both regions to prosper (Ohmae, 1995). In Europe a large number of cross-border partnerships have emerged involving German and Austrian SMEs working with SMEs in several of the postCommunist economies, such as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic (Huber, 1

2003), as well as between Greek and Bulgarian SMEs (Labrianidis, 1999). In this context, faced with rapidly changing international market environments, cooperative inter-firm activity may be viewed as a rational strategy for SMEs seeking to respond to increasing market pressure with limited internal resources. For some SMEs, cross border entrepreneurship may be an initial step towards wider internationalisation. The relationship between entrepreneurship development and cross border cooperation is likely to be a reciprocal one. One the one hand, cross border cooperation may act as a stimulus for entrepreneurship development in regions, which in many respects appear disadvantaged and peripheral. On the other hand, the nature and extent of entrepreneurship in a region is likely to affect the demand from businesses for cross border co-operation. This is because entrepreneurship and growth orientation in a regions enterprises is likely to affect the number of individual entrepreneurs and businesses that are seeking to exploit new markets, sources of supply, labour, capital, technology and/or know how that cross border entrepreneurship potentially offers. A wide range of different types of entrepreneurial activity can take place across international borders, from informal petty trading activity at one extreme (Williams and Bala, 2002) to formalised joint ventures and strategic alliances between enterprises at the other. At a global level, the increasing internationalisation of production systems inevitably leads to the development of cross-border operations, in forms that include subcontracting, joint ventures and franchise arrangements (Weaver, 2000). Whilst some forms may represent long term co-operation, others may have a limited life, according to the circumstances which led to their creation. Moreover, whilst some links may be between two SMEs, others may involve some form of co-operation arrangement between SMEs and larger companies. Although cross border co-operation may be viewed as an asset for regional development, with potential economic benefits, the heterogeneity of border regions (including those with hard and soft borders) and the different levels of economic development, institutional settings and levels of entrepreneurship affect the nature and extent of interaction across borders. It is important that this heterogeneity is taken into account when designing policies to assist in the development of these regions. Creating a policy environment to enable and facilitate productive forms of cross border entrepreneurship may be viewed as a necessary part of the regional development strategies for these border regions (Perkman, 2005), although this is likely to be more difficult to achieve in situations here the border is hard, such as the external borders of the EU, rather than in the case of soft borders (Krtke, 2002). In the EU, enlargement has focused policy attention on the need to reduce disparities between central and peripheral regions in Europe, some of which are associated with the process of enlargement itself (Batt, 2001; Niebuhr and Stiller, 2004). References

Batt, J. (2001) The Impact of EU Enlargement on Regions on the EUs New Eastern Border, CREES: University of Birmingham. Blatter, J. (2000) Emerging Cross-border Regions as a Step towards Sustainable Development?, International Journal of Economic Development, 2 (3): 402-439. Huber, P.B. (2003) On the Determinants of Cross-border Cooperation of Austrian Firms with Central and Eastern European Partners, Regional Studies, 37 (9): 947955. Krtke, S. (2002) Cross-Border Cooperation and Regional Development in the German-Polish Border Area, in M. Perkmann, N.-L. Sum (eds.) Globalization, Regionalization and Cross-border Regions, Basingstoke: Palgrave, pp. 125-150. Labrianidis L. (1999) The Investment Activity of Greek Companies in CEE Countries: the Situation beyond the Myth, in Andrikopoulou E. and Kafkalas G. (eds) Greece and the New European Space; the Enlargement and New Geography of European Development, Themelio, Athens Niebuhr, A. and Stiller, S. (2004) Integration Effects in Border Regions-A Survey of Economic Theory and Empirical Studies, Review of Regional Research, 24: 3-21. Ohmae K (1995), The end of the nation state: The rise of regional economies, Harper Collins, London. Perkmann, M. (2005) Cross-border Co-operation as Policy Entrepreneurship: Explaining the Variable Success of European Cross-border Regions, CSGR Working Paper No. 166/05, Warwick. Weaver M (2000) Strategic Alliances as Vehicles for International Growth, in Sexton D. and Landstrom (ed) Handbook of Entrepreneurship, Oxford and Malden, Mass.: Blackwell. pp. 387-407. Williams, A., Bala, V. (2002) International Petty Trading: Changing Practices in Trans-Carpathian Ukraine, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 26.2: 323-42. Ze-Wen G et al (1991), Technological Characteristics and Change in Small Industrial Enterprises in Guangdong Province, China, in Bhalla A (ed) Small and Medium Enterprises: Technology Policies and Options, Intermediate Technology Publications, London. Special Issue The aim of the special issue is to make a critical contribution to the evidence base on cross border co-operation and entrepreneurship, as well as to wider debates about the role of public policy with respect to entrepreneurship and regional development. A further aim is to assess the relevance of existing theories of internationalisation of SMEs to the phenomenon of cross border entrepreneurship.

The editors welcome conceptual and empirical papers on any aspect of cross border entrepreneurship, which is linked to economic development in border regions. Papers related to one or more of the following topics are particularly welcome: The role of trust in the establishment and development of cross border entrepreneurship The role of formal and informal institutions in fostering and impeding cross border entrepreneurship Regional case studies of cross border co-operation, with focus on the implication for entrepreneurship development Critical analysis of the role of public policy in influencing cross border entrepreneurship in border regions Analysis of the role of governance structures in influencing the nature and extent of cross border entrepreneurship The role of individual and institutional learning (and de-learning) in the development of cross border co-operation The role of identity as an enabling/constraining force on cross border entrepreneurship

Process for Submission of Papers Papers submitted must not have been published/accepted for publication or currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. Submissions should be between 6000 and 8000 words in length. Full papers should be submitted by Email word attachment to the special issue editors. The first page must contain the title, author(s) and contact information for the lead author. For additional guidelines, see Instructions for Authors from a recent issue of Entrepreneurship and Regional Development or visit http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/journal.asp?issn=08985626&linktype=44. Papers suitable for publication in the special issue will be subjected to a doubleblind review, so that author should not identify themselves in the main body of the paper. Authors should submit a 2-3 page abstract to the special issue editors before writing the paper, in order to receive feedback on its suitability and orientation. Abstracts should be submitted by 30 June 2009 and feedback will be sent to authors by 14 August 2009 at the latest. Deadline for receipt of full paper 31 December 2009 4

Please address any further questions to the special issue editors: Professor David Smallbone Small Business Research Centre Kingston University Kingston upon Thames Surrey KT2 7LB UK (tel: +44(0)20 8547 7218; fax +44(0)20 8547 7140; Email: d.smallbone@kingston.ac.uk)

Professor Friederike Welter JIBS Jnkping University Sweden (Tel: +46(0)36 10 1934; fax: +46(0)36 101888, Email: Friederike.Welter@ihh.hj.se)

Вам также может понравиться