Zsuzsanna Pálffy (p)

Taeyoon Kim

The criticism of the neoclassical theory of economic behavior, the changing relationship between the company and the space, the impact of globalization on the economic, political and social fields, as well as the cultural turn have stimulated new trends in the field of social sciences. In recent decades, the concept of embeddedness, which has undergone significant conceptual transformation, has now consolidated its place in the field of regional economics and economic geography, however, interdisciplinary studies of the phenomenon are still common. The research deals with the interaction between corporate embeddedness and culture. The purpose of the literature synthesis is to demonstrate how previous analyzes have interpreted the role of culture in the literature on embeddedness. The main question of the research is how corporate practices and cultural norms develop in a specific socio-cultural context. Through a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature, the study also addresses the importance of regional and local identity. The novelty of the concept lies in the fact that the research approaches the role of culture in embeddedness from two different aspects. On the one hand, it explores the value and norm system of embeddedness and embedding itself, focusing on the role of culture in limiting social practices, based on Polányi's original approach, and on the other hand, the role of culture in the interactions of the embedding process is discussed at all levels of embeddedness and culture. Based on the literature, it can be concluded that the culture of both the company and the recieving space, i.e. the level of trust, the openness, the willingness to settle in and the receptiveness determine the success of the embeddedness.

Sylwia Dołzbłasz (p), Andrzej Raczyk, Małgorzata Leśniak-Johann

Zsuzsanna Pálffy

The importance of tourism in fostering cross-border relationships has been a topic of significant interest in recent years. This is because border areas often offer substantial potential for tourism development, and cross-border cooperation is considered a vital element in shaping borderlands and promoting European integration. This study is designed to investigate the role of tourism in cross-border relationships, focusing on the borderlands of Poland. Research is based on an assessment of all cross-border cooperation projects co-financed by EU funds implemented in the borderlands of Poland in the years 2007-2013 and 2014-2020. The study covers various types of borders, including internal and external EU borders, mountain borders, and river borders. The analysis also compares tourism-related projects with other cross-border projects in terms of their spatial distribution and the organizations involved from Poland and neighboring countries. Additionally, the study examines the thematic scope of the tourism projects in detail. Almost 1600 projects implemented by over 2300 organizations located on both sides of the border were included in the study. The research also incorporates interviews with chosen organizations, the purpose of which was to ascertain the rationale behind establishing collaborations, selecting partners, identifying obstacles, and recognizing advantages of such collaborations
The study concludes that tourism is one of the most important thematic fields of cross-border cooperation, with its role being relatively stable during successive programming periods of the EU cohesion policy. At the same time, its significance varies in Poland's borderlands due to the diversity of conditions (including natural, geopolitical, and socio-economic). Moreover, although tourism was an important subject of cooperation, based on the qualitative study, it was found to be undertaken mainly when it demonstrated a connection with individual organizations' own priorities. Importantly, cooperation in tourism has proven to be an important factor in encouraging local communities to develop cross-border cooperation.

Rebecca Cavicchia (p), Hilma Salonen (p)

Sylwia Dołzbłasz

A cohesive Nordic region has long been envisioned as the key to future peace and development for the Nordic countries. Yet, this is a complex task in an area with plenty of remote and sparsely populated regions. Geographical accessibility, while playing a crucial role in fostering cooperation and regional development, can be challenged in a context where the presence of geographical obstacles, such as mountain chains and bodies of water, might hinder the possibility of establishing efficient and sustainable connections.
Given its unique geographical conditions and a strong commitment to sustainability, the Nordic region represents an optimal testing ground for transformative changes in transportation, particularly through electric aviation. This innovative approach to air travel has emerged as a promising solution for sustainability, catalyzed by the European Union's certification of the first electric aircraft in 2020. Nordic countries have set ambitious goals to transition, either partially or fully, to electric or sustainable fuel aviation for domestic flights by 2030.
Against this background, our research project portrays a 10-year future scenario of electric aviation by exploring five selected Nordic routes - in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden - and identifying the key driving forces behind this transformative shift.
Our focus group discussions with key informants from each of the five Nordic countries revealed that electric aviation is generally perceived positively, albeit with some contextual differences among the Nordic countries. The future scenarios suggest that making electric aviation the primary air transport mode in the Nordic region requires high levels of support from local and national governance bodies and strong political will. Factors such as incentives, taxation policies, technological advancements, and societal trust were identified as pivotal elements in this transformation. Possible regional impacts of electric aviation include fostering regional cooperation, increasing political dedication to financial regulations and incentives, creating new opportunities for tourism and business, improving accessibility to public services, and reducing emissions.
We further delve into possible regional implications of electric aviation and present results from an expert workshop on this topic, supported by a study on environmental impacts, developed in the same research project. We explore the broader implications of adopting more flexible transportation solutions for the overall development of the Nordic region, and the potential for remote regions to shape their own accessibility solutions.

Boyeong Park, Taeyoon Kim (p), Donghwan An, Phumsith Mahasuweerachai

Rebecca Cavicchia

There has been continued interest in the identification of social influence, the peer effect, on the behavioral outcome of agricultural households regarding the design of information diffusion or further technology adoption. Especially in rural areas where the information of farming technology is unevenly distributed, social networks can bear multifaceted influence over one’s innovative decisions. Using detailed social network data of 1,396 households in 90 villages of Northeast and Central Thailand, we find empirical evidence of farmers’ technology adoption increase in the information-exchange peer group. Our study stands on the idea of the linear-in-means model that consists of endogenous and exogenous peer effects, each of which identifies the influence of average peer outcome and peer characteristics on one’s household income. First, we calculate the basic social network attributes such as centrality, closeness, and betweenness and reveal it is crucial to find a significant difference between farmer’s types of cultivation or spatial allocation unless the reference group is identified. Meanwhile, it is found that the structure of the network may differ by the source of income and the direction of edges. Following that, we extract endogenous peer effect with instrument variables acquired from intransitive triads to meet sufficient conditions for identification and find farmers’ innovative decisions to increase their productivity and sustainability are explained by peers.