Cross-border commuters: How to segment Them? A Framework of Analysis

Abstract

The removal of barriers to labour mobility and the enhancement of cross-border mobility are expected to reduce regional disparities by contributing to a more efficient allocation of labour. For some time now, however, researchers have considered borders and cross-border regions to be marginal zones. Therefore, we contribute to the discussion by providing a qualitative framework for the segmentation of the cross-border job market, capable of addressing some questions relevant to the management of cross-border commuting regarding the nature of imbalances that characterize the cross-border job market and the main factors underpinning the phenomenon. To do so, we focused specifically on the Euroregion “Regio Insubrica”, a cross-boundary cooperation community between Italy and Switzerland. Nevertheless, the proposed framework may be easily applied to all the existing cross-border regions across the world in order to help explain the imbalances that exist, and support decision-makers regarding educational and labour market policies.