Internationalisation of Enterprises in EU Border Regions: A Dual Embeddedness Perspective

In regional and border studies literature, cross-border enterprise cooperation is primarily treated as a spatial phenomenon, overlooking the economic mechanisms of the internationalization of economic activity. This article aims to present this cooperation as a specific form of internationalization for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the border regions of the European Union. It proposes an analytical framework based on theories of internationalization, such as the Uppsala model, the OLI paradigm, and the network approach. This framework takes into account the role of the EU internal market as a key systemic factor. The article calls for geographical and economic approaches to converge in research on cross-border cooperation between enterprises.