Cross-border Mobility Research Articles

The Socialising Role of Cross-border Mobility and its Effects on the Representation of the Border: The Case of Hiking Around Mont Blanc

ABSTRACT In this article, we look at the hikers who have completed the Tour du Mont Blanc, questioning their socialisation not only in the practice of hiking but also in the practice of cross-border mobility. We also analyse the effects of this cross-border mobility in terms of their representation of the border, as well as their opinion of the European Union. Our methodology was based on 15 semi-structured interviews. Results show that the socialisation of cross-border mobility among hikers depends on their social background. Those from the most privileged backgrounds travel the most, particularly outside Europe. These experiences of cross-border mobility have an impact on the formation of opinions and attitudes towards the EU and representations of the border. However, on the Tour du Mont Blanc, the lack of border signs and the absence of checks makes the border easy to cross. It is therefore not considered to be a barrier.

The Patient as a Consumer in the EU: Legal Provisions and Their Implementation Based on the Examples of Poland and Italy

In this paper, we analyse the situation of the patients’ rights under the Polish and the Italian legislation, with a specific focus on the qualification of the patients in terms of consumers and of the healthcare facilities in terms of traders. We describe the different situations present in Poland and in Italy, in spite of the substantive harmonisation in the field of consumers’ protection at the European level. Nevertheless, the results of the analysis show that, even if healthcare treatments are left outside the scope of application of the consumers’ protection directives, including them would be far more advisable. This would also go in the same direction of the European rules in the field of cross-border mobility of patients and might contribute to the development of a common idea of trader which might include all the healthcare facilities. In fact, one of the findings of the article is the fact that many differences are still present in the domestic rules when it comes to the definition of the healthcare facility in term of trader and this is likely to prevent a consistent enactment of the regulations in the field.

THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL AND SOCIOCULTURAL ADAPTATION AMONG CHINESE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITY

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship and mechanisms influencing the positive psychological capital, social support and sociocultural adaptation of Chinese international students pursuing higher education in Malaysian universities. Through quantitative research methods, the mechanisms that facilitate or hinder the successful sociocultural adaptation of Chinese international students to a new sociocultural environment are revealed. Given the increasing popularity of cross-border international student mobility, this study is highly relevant and provides important insights into the potential opportunities and challenges posed by such mobility. The findings suggest a significant positive relationship between psychological resources (positive psychological capital) and sociocultural adaptation among Chinese overseas students. Meanwhile, social support played a partial mediating role, facilitating the transformation of internal strengths (psychological capital) to external outcomes (sociocultural adaptation). The findings of this study have important implications for university assistance programmes that aim to improve the success and well-being of Chinese overseas students by enhancing psychological resources. Furthermore, this investigation contributes fresh insights to the wider discourse on intercultural education, clarifying how psychological elements impact international student adjustment within such contexts. It serves as a foundation for crafting more impactful interventions targeted at mitigating acculturative stress encountered by international students during their overseas academic pursuits.

Politicised at Home but not in Council: The European Coordination of Social Security Systems

After seven years of negotiations, the European Parliament and the Council have yet to agree on the reform of one of the most essential regulations facilitating cross-border worker mobility in the EU: the Coordination of Social Security Systems (EC 883/2004). The lack of agreement remains puzzling, as all negotiating partners are generally in favour of the reform. Similar proposals on social policy, such as the Posting of Workers Directive or the Minimum-wage Directive, were also challenging to achieve but could be agreed upon. This article tests whether “unpolitics”—a destructive approach by populist governments in the Council to undermine EU policymaking—is the reason for the persisting deadlock on the file. The central finding of this article is that the interplay of populism and the status of member states as sending or receiving workers shape unpolitical behaviour. Contrary to expectations, unpolitics is largely absent in the behaviour of populist and non-populist governments. Unpolitical behaviour does not promise high gains for the populist governments from Central and Eastern Europe because these member states send workers. The smooth functioning of the freedom of workers is essential for them and their national discourses do not discuss the freedom of movement in the context of welfare chauvinism. Welfare chauvinism is much stronger in countries that receive workers, however, populists were not in power in these member states and therefore there was no unpolitical behaviour. The findings show that unpolitical behaviour is not used by mainstream governments, not even when it would seem likely from the nature of the policy issue. This article highlights that the probability of unpolitical behavior is influenced not only by the nature of the policy issue itself but also by domestic institutional and structural factors, as well as the national discourse.

Explaining Support for Border Closures During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exposure, Political Attitudes, or Pandemic Policy Feedback?

Abstract The closing of national borders was one of the most far-reaching policy measures adopted to limit the spread of the virus during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Despite its unprecedented nature and far-reaching impact on individual lives, blocking almost all human movements not only into but also out of states, popular support for this measure was surprisingly high. How can this support be explained? Using an original 4-wave panel dataset across 11 countries together with cross-national policy data, we explore individual and contextual drivers of border closure support throughout 2020. We find that higher support can partly be explained by political attitudes related to cross-border mobility, such as distrust in foreigners or right-wing ideology. Primarily, however, support for closing borders is shaped by respondents’ evaluation of governments’ handling of the pandemic, as well as the intensity and timing of the constraining measures. We also find that support wanes over time, which may indicate a policy fatigue effect. Interestingly, health concerns (exposure to the virus) have almost no influence on support. Even in this exceptional situation, and when confronted with a new policy issue, citizens’ preferences are thus primarily a politically driven response to government measures.

Improving Public Health Emergency Communication Along the U.S. Southern Border: Insights From a COVID-19 Pilot Campaign With Truck Drivers.

Tens of thousands of trucks cross the U.S.-Mexico border every day. Cross-border truckers' high mobility puts them at risk of acquiring and transmitting infectious diseases and creates challenges reaching them with emergency public health messaging due to their everchanging locations and limited English proficiency. Despite this community-level transmission risk and documented health disparities related to various infectious and noninfectious diseases experienced by truckers themselves, little has been published to provide practical recommendations on better reaching this audience through innovative outreach methods. This article describes a COVID-19 health promotion campaign that aimed to (1) identify, pilot test, and evaluate effective messages, channels, sources, and settings for reaching truckers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border and (2) build capacity and sustainability for messaging around future health emergencies. The pilot program ran for 6 weeks, June to August 2023, in three key commercial border crossings and delivered approximately 50,000,000 impressions, nearly 45% more impressions than expected. Considerations for practitioners include the areas of design, implementation, and evaluation. The results provide insight into how to design health promotion messages that resonate with cross-border truckers and how to place these messages where they will be seen, heard, and understood. This includes working effectively with community health workers (CHW), known locally as promotores; identifying local partners that allow CHW to set up onsite; and, working with partner organizations including employers. Practical insights for building evaluation metrics into traditional and grassroots outreach strategies to facilitate real-time optimization as well as continued learning across efforts are also described.

The end of Mexico–US migration as we knew it – or back to the future?

Over the last decade, scholars have declared the collapse of the Mexico–US system of undocumented migration. The H2 visa programme, a regime of managed sojourning is replacing the system of unauthorized cross-border mobility. In fiscal year 2023, the US government issued nearly 370,000 H2 temporary work visas to Mexicans. This temporary migrant labour programme is also bringing back circulation, temporary legal stays, and mostly male cross-border mobility – features that are akin to the old Bracero Program (1942–64). We contend that the restoration of these legal and sociodemographic dynamics undermines critical pillars of the system of undocumented labour mobility, limiting and reorienting the role of social networks, and potentially ending the way Mexico–United States has functioned for the past half century. We use ethnographic, interview and survey data to analyse the expansion of this new regime of highly mediated cross-border mobility, the ascent of the brokerage apparatus, and its effect transforming the social infrastructure of migration. We ask, specifically, how does the H2 temporary migrant labour programme constrain and diminish kin and hometown-based social networks, previously seen as ‘the engine of migration’? How does the shift from migrant networks to a brokerage apparatus impact trust, reciprocity and the development of migratory social capital? How is the new regime changing the experience of migration – substituting risk and adventure for certainty and routinized movement? How does the H2 temporary migrant labour programme revert the locus of social reproduction of the labour force back to sending communities, preempting integration at the destination? We frame the answers to these questions in the emerging migration industry and infrastructures paradigm, which examines to the role of migrant and non-migrant actors in the facilitation, control and overall mediation and structuring of cross-border mobility.

Talent hat, cross-border mobility, and career development in China

Abstract This study investigates the influence of cross-border recruitment programs in China, which confer scientists with a “talent hat,” including an attractive startup package, on their future performance and career development. By curating a unique data set from China’s 10-year talent recruitment program, we employed multiple matching designs to quantify the effects of the cross-border recruitment with talent hats on early-career STEM scholars. Our findings indicate that the cross-border talents perform better than their comparable contenders who move without talent hats and those who do not move in terms of publication numbers, citation, publication quality, and collaborator numbers, given equivalent scientific performance before relocation. Moreover, we observed that scholars in experimental fields derive more significant benefits from the talent program than those in nonexperimental fields. Finally, we investigated how the changes in the scientific environment of scientists affect their future performance. We found that talents who reassembled their collaboration network with new collaborators in new institutions after job replacement experienced significant improvements in their academic performance. However, shifting research directions entails risks, which results in a subsequent decrease in future academic performances following the relocation. This study has significant implications for young scientists, research institutions, and governments concerning cultivating cross-border talents.

Challenges for Sustaining Measles Elimination: Post-Verification Large-Scale Import-Related Measles Outbreaks in Mongolia and Cambodia, Resulting in the Loss of Measles Elimination Status.

The Western Pacific Region's pursuit of measles elimination has seen significant progress and setbacks. Mongolia and Cambodia were the first two middle-income countries in the Western Pacific to be verified as having eliminated measles by the Western Pacific Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination, in March 2014 and 2015, respectively. However, both countries experienced large-scale or prolonged importation-related measles outbreaks shortly afterwards, leading to the re-establishment of endemic transmission. We describe the path to initial elimination in both countries and explore these outbreaks' characteristics, factors contributing to the loss of elimination status, and implications for broader elimination efforts. Data sources include case-based epidemiological and laboratory surveillance reports, historical immunization coverage, genotype data, and published reports of in-depth outbreak investigations. In Mongolia, a single prolonged and large-scale outbreak revealed a hidden immunity gap among young adults and was driven in part by nosocomial transmission, leading to significant morbidity and mortality and loss of elimination status. Cambodia suffered multiple importations from neighboring endemic countries during the global measles resurgence in 2018-2019, complicated by cross-border mobility and significant nosocomial amplification, and the country was ultimately unable to sufficiently distinguish independent chains of transmission, leading to loss of elimination status. Our findings highlight the importance of broadening population immunity assessments beyond children to include adults and specific high-risk groups. Robust routine immunization programs, supplemented by tailored SIAs, are crucial for preventing and managing outbreaks. Additionally, strong outbreak preparedness plans, rapid response strategies, and cross-border collaboration and the global effort to prevent multiple resurgences and large-scale importation-induced outbreaks are vital for maintaining elimination status. The experiences of Mongolia and Cambodia underscore the challenges of sustaining measles elimination in the face of importation risks, shared borders with endemic countries, healthcare system gaps, and population movements. Strengthening the global coordination and synchronization of measles elimination activities is imperative to protect the gains achieved and prevent future setbacks.

Estimating Cross-Border Mobility from the Difference in Peak Timing: A Case Study of Poland–Germany Border Regions

Human mobility contributes to the fast spatiotemporal propagation of infectious diseases. During an outbreak, monitoring the infection on either side of an international border is crucial as cross-border migration increases the risk of disease importation. Due to the unavailability of cross-border mobility data, mainly during pandemics, it becomes difficult to propose reliable, model-based strategies. In this study, we propose a method for estimating commuting-type cross-border mobility flux between any pair of regions that share an international border from the observed difference in their infection peak timings. Assuming the underlying disease dynamics are governed by a Susceptible–Infected–Recovered (SIR) model, we employ stochastic simulations to obtain the maximum likelihood cross-border mobility estimate for any pair of regions. We then investigate how the estimate of cross-border mobility flux varies depending on the transmission rate. We further show that the uncertainty in the estimates decreases for higher transmission rates and larger observed differences in peak timing. Finally, as a case study, we apply the method to some selected regions along the Poland–Germany border that are directly connected through multiple modes of transportation and quantify the cross-border fluxes from the COVID-19 cases data from 20 February to 20 June 2021.

Instituting the global: The racial analytics of migration

Abstract In this article, we regard concepts of inclusion and exclusion as epistemological obstacles for a political (rather than a critical) analysis of migration. Working with the rich conceptual innovations and scientific and philosophical genealogies developed by Denise Ferreira Da Silva in Toward a Global Idea of Race, we seek to show how concepts of inclusion and exclusion, as well as equations between migration and mobility fortify what Da Silva has called ‘globality’ and ‘raciality’. Either explicitly or implicitly according primacy to inclusion means that what Da Silva calls ‘the logic of exclusion’ ultimately folds into what she terms ‘the logic of obliteration’, which revolves around the necessary assimilation of the European other to the Euro-white subject. As we argue, today, the racial institution of the global operates to a large extent by way of the conceptual, classificatory and ocular practices that make up what is known as ‘migration’, which continues to be understood (falsely but constitutively) as cross-border mobility. We seek to show how ‘migration’, and its concomitant binary analytic of inclusion and exclusion, has become an apparatus separating what Da Silva calls the ‘transcendental I’, that is, the universal, self-determining, Euro-white subject, from those primarily characterized and known by what Da Silva calls ‘affectability’, that is, external determination. In the hierarchy of humans that ensues, migrants become recognizable as racially inferior, affectable not-quite-subjects.

The influence of cross-border mobility on the COVID-19 epidemic in Nordic countries.

Restrictions of cross-border mobility are typically used to prevent an emerging disease from entering a country in order to slow down its spread. However, such interventions can come with a significant societal cost and should thus be based on careful analysis and quantitative understanding on their effects. To this end, we model the influence of cross-border mobility on the spread of COVID-19 during 2020 in the neighbouring Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. We investigate the immediate impact of cross-border travel on disease spread and employ counterfactual scenarios to explore the cumulative effects of introducing additional infected individuals into a population during the ongoing epidemic. Our results indicate that the effect of inter-country mobility on epidemic growth is non-negligible essentially when there is sizeable mobility from a high prevalence country or countries to a low prevalence one. Our findings underscore the critical importance of accurate data and models on both epidemic progression and travel patterns in informing decisions related to inter-country mobility restrictions.

Espace Mont-Blanc Mountain Guides’ Relationship with the Border

ABSTRACT Mountain guides hold a unique position among cross-border entrepreneurs in the Espace Mont-Blanc not only because they exercise a profession that is emblematic of the region, but also because cross-border mobility is an integral part of their profession. As part of the TranSport project, which examines how cross-border cooperation takes place in the field of sports and leisure activities, we took an interest in their relationship with the border by analysing their representations of the border and related behaviors. This work is based on non-directive interviews with 20 Swiss, French and Italian mountain guides. The results show that their relationship with the border is marked by a denial of the border, combined with a rejection of anything that might be perceived as an obstacle to carrying out their profession across the border.

Improved cross-border relevance through integrated interventions: the TAPE tool of the INTERREG V-A Slovakia-Hungary Programme

ABSTRACT The paper presents the first outcomes and results of using an integrated territorial tool applied by the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme (2014–2020), the ‘Territorial Action Plan for Employment’, or, briefly: the TAPE. The tool is aimed at facilitating quality employment and cross-border labour mobility through the implementation of 2–7 interdependent projects within a geographically defined subregion of the programme area, with the involvement of SMEs, training institutions, NGOs and municipalities. The author introduces the tool and the nine TAPEs financed by the CBC programme and gives a comprehensive assessment of their outcomes and results from the points of view of cross-border labour market development, integrated soft planning and trust building with a special focus on the aspect of cross-border relevance. The study concludes that the tool does not meet the preliminary expectations: its cross-border relevance is not much stronger than the traditional standalone CBC projects. At the same time, the bottom-up cross-border planning exercise has significant added value which might make the tool attractive for other CBC programmes, too.

Gendered migration infrastructure and socio-spatial rupture: Indian women’s migration experiences to the United Arab Emirates

ABSTRACT Increasing cross-border mobilities for employment and livelihood opportunities has resulted in greater institutional and regulatory controls over migration. In this paper, through an analysis of the migration infrastructure for women between India and the United Arab Emirates, socio-spatial ruptures are discerned. The paper asserts that in addition to economic and political frameworks, social and cultural mores have been significant in shaping differentiated migration pathways for Indian women, which are conceptualised as, “gendered migration infrastructure”. Gendered migration infrastructure for Indian women is founded on normative understandings of domesticity and femininity and consequently, has made migration for women restrictive, circuitous and cumbersome. The failure and interruptions of migration infrastructure has occurred across borders and the differentiated migration pathways thus created lie at the intersection of formal regulations and actors (migration laws, recruitment and skilling organisations, state agents, border controls, civil society and bureaucracy) and informal intermediaries and practices (subagents, bypassing emigration procedures, irregular channels and corruption). By drawing on the narratives of Indian migrant women, the paper highlights the negotiations undertaken by migrant women and the impact of gendered migration infrastructure on their (im)mobilities, migratory experiences, and outcomes. Further, socio-spatial ruptures due to the COVID-19 pandemic created cracks in the migration infrastructure, deepening the precarities faced by migrant women. Overall, the paper aims to contribute to the literature on gendered migration and transnationalism in addition to shedding light on the migration of Indian women across income and legal categories, an under-researched topic currently.

International mobility between the UK and Europe around Brexit: a data-driven study

Among the multiple effects of Brexit, changes in migration and mobility across Europe were expected. Several studies have analysed these aspects, mostly from the point of view of perceptions, motivations, economic effects, scenarios, and changes in migration from Central and Eastern European countries. In this study we propose an analysis of migration and cross-border mobility using an integrated data-driven approach. We investigate official statistics from Eurostat, together with non-traditional data, to give a more complete view of the changes after Brexit, at EU and regional level. Specifically, we employ scientific publication and Crunchbase data to study highly-skilled migration, Twitter and Air Passenger data to investigate monthly trends. While main trends are preserved across datasets, with a general decrease in migration towards the UK immediately after the referendum approval, we are able to also observe more fine grained trends specific to some data or regions. Furthermore, we relate the changes in mobility observed from Air Passenger data with attention to Brexit from Google Trends data.

Cross-border mobility in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion: impact of COVID-19 border restrictions on everyday activities and visiting social network members.

Cross-border mobility (CBM) to visit social network members or for everyday activities is an important part of daily life for citizens in border regions, including the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion (EMR: neighboring regions from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany). We assessed changes in CBM during the COVID-19 pandemic and how participants experienced border restrictions. Impact of COVID-19 on the EMR' is a longitudinal study using comparative cross-border data collection. In 2021, a random sample of the EMR-population was invited for participation in online surveys to assess current and pre-pandemic CBM. Changes in CBM, experience of border restrictions, and associated factors were analyzed using multinomial and multivariable logistic regression analysis. Pre-pandemic, 82% of all 3,543 participants reported any CBM: 31% for social contacts and 79% for everyday activities. Among these, 26% decreased social CBM and 35% decreased CBM for everyday activities by autumn 2021. Negative experience of border restrictions was reported by 45% of participants with pre-pandemic CBM, and was higher (p < 0.05) in Dutch participants (compared to Belgian; aOR= 1.4), cross-border [work] commuters (aOR= 2.2), participants with cross-border social networks of friends, family or acquaintances (aOR= 1.3), and those finding the measures 'limit group size' (aOR= 1.5) and 'minimalize travel' (aOR= 2.0) difficult to adhere to and finding 'minimalize travel' (aOR= 1.6) useless. CBM for social contacts and everyday activities was substantial in EMR-citizens, but decreased during the pandemic. Border restrictions were valued as negative by a considerable portion of EMR-citizens, especially when having family or friends across the border. When designing future pandemic control strategies, policy makers should account for the negative impact of CBM restrictions on their citizens.

INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL MEDIATION: INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF MEDIATION AGREEMENTS

Global economic output has increased dramatically due to an increase in cross border trade, the rise of multinational corporations and globalisation.&#x0D; The globalisation of trade resulted in an increasing interaction between different cultures and legal traditions with different value systems and philosophical foundations, leading to increased dispute potential which could eventually develop into conflict.&#x0D; The default setting for conflict resolution is widely recognised as judicially sanctioned dispute resolution, otherwise referred to as litigation. Commercial litigation processes are, however, getting more costly and burdensome.&#x0D; Commercial disputes are furthermore becoming more complex because of the globalised trade landscape and increasing cross-border mobility. This poses unique challenges for litigants and courts. Typical problems encountered include governing law issues, enforcement issues, differing national administrative requirements and legal processes. Dispute resolution by means of litigation is subject to intrinsic characteristics exacerbating the complexity of cross-border disputes. In the EU member states for instance, it takes between one hundred and three hundred days to obtain a first- instance judgment in civil proceedings.&#x0D; &#x0D;

Frontier Strategies of Dayak Agabag’s Elite for Cultural Rights in Ulu Sembakung, North Borneo

The local elites of Dayak Agabag are conscious of their community's position as minorities, which presents opportunities. As an Indonesian frontier people, the Dayak Agabag have formed solid social ties with the Murut Pensiangan, as a resident community in Malaysia, fostering cultural cohesion across national borders. These sociocultural ties are seen as a threat to sovereignty and nationalism, which, ironically, are often exploited by local elites for the benefit of frontier people. The Agabag's elites are using their minority status to advocate the development of modern-state infrastructure in their region. This article analyzes cultural rights challenges confronting the Dayak Agabag along the Indonesia-Malaysia border, aiming to comprehend the political role of Dayak Agabag elites in shaping affirmative policies for marginalized communities and their advocacy for human rights, shedding light on the movements of both the elite and the community in their quest for legitimacy. The ethnographic lens used in this article shows that the political agency of Dayak Agabag’s local elite created their own rule to counter the domination of the state spatiality to struggle for human rights as frontier people. This article describes how the local elites maintained their minority frontier people status, as it gave them access to political gain or privileges across state borders. The local agency of Dayak Agabag’s elite offers insight into how marginalized frontier people can leverage their political indigeneity power, obtain cultural rights, and maintain socially legitimate yet formally illegal cross-border mobility.

International education supports and cross-border student mobility: factors influencing Cambodian and Laotian students’ choice of studying in a Vietnamese university

PurposeCambodian and Laotian students (CLS) are among the largest groups of international students in intra-ASEAN student mobility as well as in Vietnamese higher education institutions (HEIs). However, little has been researched on the factors influencing CLS’s decision to choose Vietnam as destination country. The purpose of this study is to investigate why CLS decide to go overseas and choose Vietnam as their host country among other opportunities as well as their perceptions of the decision.Design/methodology/approachUsing qualitative methods and employing purposive sampling, data were collected by semi-structured interviews from CLS studying in a HEI in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. The data were analysed against the push–pull framework to understand factors influencing the participants’ decision.FindingsThe findings show that CLS in the study were “pushed” by the perceived higher value of a foreign qualification and family encouragements. In terms of pull factors, they were attracted to choose Vietnam as the host country most observably due to scholarship opportunities. However other pull factors were also significant, especially the lack of certain skills in home countries and its congruence with Vietnam’s competitive strength in offering courses for those skills. In retrospect, the participants expressed a sense of optimism, though there was also certain reservation.Research limitations/implicationsThe small sample restrict the generalisability of the findings.Practical implicationsAs an exploratory study, the findings can lay the ground for largerscale studies investigating CLS mobility in Vietnam and be employed for inbound student mobility policymaking reference for HEIs in Vietnam as well as in other developing countries.Originality/valueThis study investigates why Cambodian and Laotian international students decide to go to Vietnam, a developing country in the lesser-known part of international student mobility landscape. This is a topic that remains under-researched in the Asia-bound student mobility literature. Insights from the study can not only contribute to the scholarly gap but also offer implications for HEIs in Vietnam and other Asian countries.