Character and Outcomes of Cross-border Regions Development in Different Institutional Conditions: Case-studies of Oresund, Dnieper and Pskov-Livonia

Sergey Barinov; Peter Kiryushin

Sergey Barinov - PhD in Geography, Research Fellow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, 20, Myasnitaskaya, Moscow, Russia; E-mail: sbarinov@hse.ru

Peter Kiryushin – PhD in Economics, Moscow State University, Research Fellow; 1 Leninskie Gory, Moscow, Russia; E-mail: lab_pepp@econ.msu.ru

Abstract

The institutions development features are discussed in significant number of papers focused on the euroregions issue. There are three groups of borders with noticeable differences in the institutional conditions: the European Union internal state borders; the CIS internal state borders; and the borders between the EU and CIS members. The paper discusses a comparative case study of these three types of euroregions (Oresund, Pskov-Livonia and Dnieper). The authors look at the following aspects of the regions’ collaboration: cooperation of regional authorities and local self-government, preservation of cultural heritage, cultural exchange, cooperation for education development, environmental protection, implementation of joint projects in transport infrastructure development, coordination of regional development programmes and developing joint strategies. SWOT analysis was used to conduct a comparative study.

The case studies comparative analysis reveals the existence of special mechanisms that are supported by funds and generate delayed outcomes. Such mechanisms are used within the EU, some of them (particularly INTERREG) are limitedly applied within the EU and CIS borders but they are absent within CIS members borders.

The authors demonstrate that business and NGO exert very limited influence within CIS internal borders. This could be explained by budget problems and the institutional environment peculiarities. Cooperation in innovations and technologies development is limited due to lack of demand in collaboration in this area. The priority areas of collaboration are cooperation in educational and socio-cultural development within this type of euroregions.

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Contacts

Sergey Barinov, Peter Kiryushin

Character and Outcomes of Cross-border Regions Development in Different Institutional Conditions: Case-studies of Oresund, Dnieper and Pskov-Livonia