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Cross-border
economic
development 8 Practical guide : building partnerships
Assessing the value added of
cross-border economic development
Borders are vectors of wealth that are worth exploiting.
Confirming this premise for a given territory makes it possible
to develop public cross-border policies.
Indicators such as the
following may be used to
determine the value added
and impact of the cross-
border dimension in economic
development: the number of
jobs created on each side
of the border, the number of
border jobs, the number of
jobs indirectly generated by
cross-border employment
(“presential” economy)1,
GDP growth, establishment
of companies, setting-up of
branches, subcontracting
relationships, etc.
1 See "Introduction" page 6
E x a m p l e :
In 2013, the OECD published
a report entitled “Regions
and Innovation: Collaborating
across Borders”. This report
analyses why and when it is relevant
to collaborate across borders in the
area of innovation. It also analyses
cross-border governance models
for innovation and public policies to
increase cross-border innovation.
Lastly, the report examines six case
studies on high-performing cross-
border innovation systems.
Studies of this kind help to
elaborate arguments for cross-
border integration of economic
development, in order to raise
awareness among decision-
makers (elected representatives,
senior government officials,
etc.), and also citizens and
businesses on the value added
of cross-border economic
development, and even
convince them to work toward
this integration.
E x a m p l e :
The Aquitaine-Euskadi Euroregion
promotes the view that cross-
border partnerships strengthen the
ability of territories on each side of
the border to export and be more
competitive internationally.
For a more detailed analysis of the different
arguments, please see the “Introduction”.