What determines the co-operative potential for firms in Western European and CEE border regions? A comparative micro-level analysis

The present article investigates whether Eastern European enlargement influences the co-operative potential of firms in the borderland between Western and Central Eastern Europe more than of other firms, i.e. of those not being located in the borderland. Based on theoretical arguments as well as empirical evidence, we build a micro-level framework of factors, which determine a firm’s likelihood of cross-border business co-operation. Using logistic regression, this framework is empirically tested and compared for two cross-sectional datasets of firms located in the border regions in Northern Bohemia (the Czech Republic) and Saxony (East Germany).