The importance of this research stems from the need to ensure the sustainability of cross-border cooperation through a better understanding of its determinants and causal relationships. While having common features and patterns, cross-border cooperation is always expressed through the relations of specific countries and peoples. Therefore, based upon the PLS-SEM methodology, the authors consider the fundamental factors influencing the external cooperation of Hungary’s transboundary regions. The advantage of the PLS-SEM method is that it enables researchers to simultaneously identify and approximate hidden connections between input data and to construct a regression model describing the relationship between input data. Despite widespread application in economic studies, the authors have not found the use of PLS-SEM for studying cross-border cooperation issues in the current scientific literature. The authors have built a model to assess the hidden factors of cross-border cooperation and to identify the indirect influence of certain factors. The novelty of the research is to identify the determinants of sustainable cross-border cooperation and the relationship between them in a multi-level system of cross-border interaction between businesses, people, and the State. In the Hungarian context, transport infrastructure and business travel are shown to have a direct positive impact on cross-border cooperation. For the first time, tourism and socio-economic conditions have been shown to have powerful but indirect impacts. This work could be the beginning of gathering new evidence on the determinants and causation of cross-border cooperation in the context of other countries. An important finding of the study is the growing importance of indicators of the new, post-industrial economy. As for recommendations, the authors focus on state, regional, and municipal support measures, awareness of the possibilities of cross-border cooperation, the need to develop e-commerce, and alternative energy as a modern basis for converting Hungary’s cross-border position into a competitive advantage.

Приграничное сотрудничество является основой прочных дружественных отношений сопредельных стран. Авторами выдвинута гипотеза о том, что территориальный капитал приграничного региона в качестве неотъемлемого элемента включает приграничное сотрудничество, которое позволяет укрепить потенциал конкурентоспособности. Для доказательства гипотезы авторы дополнили структуру элементов территориального капитала, обобщили данные кейс-анализа проектов приграничного сотрудничества российских приграничных регионов, граничащих с европейскими странами. Предложена классификация интересов ключевых групп участников приграничного сотрудничества, детализирующая интересы не только по группам, но и по возрасту населения, где интересы и мотивы приграничного сотрудничества существенно различаются между собой. На основе развития теоретической базы приграничного сотрудничества в данном исследовании, а также результатов предыдущих исследований предложен механизм развития трансграничного сотрудничества, включающий подходы, принципы, методы и действия, способствующие приращению территориального капитала и укреплению потенциала конкурентоспособности приграничного региона.

The differentiation in the development of regions remains a major challenge for the working out-of-state industrial and regional policies aimed at balanced and sustainable development. In theory, regional differences between internal and border regions can be explained by differences in natural resources, and economic and industrial potential, as well as by the existence of external boundaries. Border regions have higher risks in ensuring the geo-political sustainability of an industry. External boundaries, as well as differences in industry dynamics between regions, cycle stages, and industry trends, are often overlooked in industrial policy making, which in itself can be a factor of volatility. In this research based upon the Russian economy, we test the hypothesis that it is possible to define the industrial cycle with the help of the index of production. The analysis is based on the official Russian statistics from January 2005 to December 2021. To test the hypothesis, an original 12-step method of analysis was used, which allows such a mathematical model to be selected that will best describe the industry cycle and allows the trend to be estimated. The cyclic dynamics were assessed with the help of structural and parametric identification of modeling and the forecasting of trajectories of evolving dynamics based upon econophysics methodology, the use of median trends, and wavelet analysis. The comparative study was made based on the example of four sectors: the food, chemical, pharmaceutical (production of medicines and materials used for medical purposes), and automotive industries. The results show, first, that there are significant differences in the dynamics of industry cycles in both the internal and the border regions, which need to be taken into account to implement the progressive economic structure and specialization strategies of a region. Secondly, the group of border regions in the food, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries is growing at a higher rate.

As digitalisation has become increasingly crucial for economic growth, competitiveness and sustainable development, digital development and digital transformation have been of concern in the European Union for the last decades. The study aims to analyse the digital divide and classify the NUTS-2 regions of Central and South-East European transition economies according to similar digitalisation levels between 2016 and 2021. After setting out the necessary terminological background on digital divide and providing an overview on the key areas of action to promote digital development and transition in the EU, a database of seven ICT-related indicators from Eurostat was compiled for 49 regions and multidimensional scaling was applied for exploring the similarities and differences between them. An important conclusion is that there is still a sharp divide among the regions of the European transition economies. It is also found that regions belonging to the same country are more similar than different, and digitalisation characteristics have not changed in relative terms. The study may contribute to the deeper understanding, ongoing discussion, and fruitful debate of the situation of digitalisation on both European and sub-national levels.

Integration – sovereignty – cohesion: the cost and chances of the EU membership LETÖLTÉS DOI: 10.59809/Comitatus

One of the main pillars of the European Union is the cohesion policy, which aims to enable the different regions of the Member States to converge in their development regardless of their geographical location and historical trajectory, thereby creating a true common market. Cross-border programs that have been running for more than thirty years play a prominent role in this objective. However, in order for these programs to be truly successful, it is necessary to create strategies at the local level of regional development. Therefore, the present research processes the development documents of the Romanian-Hungarian border counties between 2007 and 2020 in order to get a more accurate picture of the role of the Romanian community living in Hungary, as well as the Hungarian community living in Romania, in cross-border economic cooperation. The present research is part of a more comprehensive investigation, in which we explore in more detail the role of national minorities in economic cooperation across the Hungarian-Romanian border.