Entrepreneurship at the B order

Fernanda M. Bizarro Policarpo¹, Ricardo M. Hernández Mogollón² 
(1. Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, Portalegre, Portugal; 2. Universidad of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain)

Abstract: This paper aims to examine entrepreneurship at the border, more specifically in the Portugal-Spain border, particularly the Alentejo-Extremadura, since this is one of the regions with the worst socio-economic indicators of the whole European Union. As part of a major investigation, this paper has as main objective the description of a model developed to evaluate the frontier effect in the entrepreneurial initiatives of the region under study. To justify and validate the proposed model, were performed: literature revision; analysis of regional indicators; case studies with interviews to the managers, employees and customers. The main contributions are to assist all those involved in the process of entrepreneurship, to assess the real conditions of the different border territories, as well as assisting academics in the study and creation of scientific knowledge on the promotion of entrepreneurship in peripheral and low-density areas as a way of developing regional and territorial cohesion.

Key words: entrepreneurship; border effect; regional development; territorial cohesion

         JEL codes: L26, Q51, Q56, R11, R58