Annika Jaansoo, Provision of services across international borders: factors driving cooperation of subnational governments in Europe (University of Twente, 2019). 368 pp. Free download at https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036547581 (softcover), ISBN: 9789036547581

• Published date: 01 November 2022
• Author: Martina Eckardt
• Date: 01 November 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13558

BOOK REVIEWS

Provision of services across

international borders: factors

driving cooperation of

subnational governments in

Europe

Annika Jaansoo, (University of Twente,

2019). 368 pp. Free download at https://

doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036547581

(softcover), ISBN: 9789036547581

Martina Eckardt

Chair of Public Economics and Public Finance, Andr

assy University Budapest,

Budapest, Hungary

Email: martina.eckardt@andrassyuni.hu

With the deepening of European integration, borders as

barriers between the now 27 European Union (EU) mem-

ber states have lost more and more importance. With the

introduction of the Common Market in 1993, the Four

Freedoms of free movement of goods, services, capital,

and people came into force. In 1999, the Schengen Area

was incorporated into EU law, effectually abolishing inter-

nal border controls for 26 EU Member States (Ireland and

the UK being an exception). Together, this results in a

rather unrestricted crossing of the EU-28 internal borders.

Therefore, it is not surprising that, over time, numer-

ous activities regarding international cross-border cooper-

ation (CBC) between subnational governments of EU

Member States have emerged. Bottom-up, there evolved

a multitude of different forms of institutionalization, rang-

ing from mere declarations of intent between the coop-

erating partners to town twinnings based on mirroring

of private law forms of the cooperating subnational

governments to intergovernmental agreements between

Member States allowing for special legal arrangements in

so-called Euroregions, for example. From the top-down,

the EU pays attention to CBC among subnational govern-

ments in its various policies, while also providing substan-

tial financial means to this end. For example, for the

2014–2020 financing period, the EU Cohesion Policy

devoted about 3.3 billion Euros to promote international

CBC between the Member States; additional funding is

provided by the EU Neighboring policies to promote

cooperation with non-EU countries (pp. 108–125).

De Sousa consequently stated already in 2013 that

“European integration has had a dual impact on border

regions. On the one hand, borders were physically dis-

mantled across most of the EU’s territory (…). On the

other hand, border regions have become a fertile ground

for territorial cooperation and institutional innovation”

(De Sousa, 2013, p. 669).

The more astonishing it is that, so far, there is only

very little systematic knowledge regarding the available

data as well as the empirical evidence on the drivers and

obstacles of such CBC. This holds the more when looking

at the joint provision of services across international bor-

ders. Especially in border regions, it is not common for

the administrative and functional delimitations of a

region to overlap. Therefore, it should be expected that

European integration opens new avenues for gathering

the potential benefits of CBC in joint service provision.

Why this is not the case on a larger scale is the starting

point and one of the main questions Jaansoo sets out to

answer in her dissertation. To this end, the author brings

together, in a systematic way, the main factors influenc-

ing international CBC, with particular attention to the EU.

The book starts with an introductory chapter that

states the research topic and clearly outlines the structure

of the book together with the main research questions

and methods applied (pp. 17–38). The theoretical frame-

work in chapter 2 (pp. 39–96) is based on an in-depth lit-

erature review that covers a multitude of disciplines, like

public administration, regional studies, economics, urban

studies, management studies, and so on. One of the main

merits of Jaansoo’s work is her analytical approach to the

multi-faceted and often overlapping factors influencing

CBC. By applying Williamson’s(

1985) transaction costs

theory, she shows how fruitful it is to guide analysis in

CBC. Starting with the common assumption of goal-

oriented but bounded rational actors, the different factors

affecting CBC are discussed in detail: gains from CBC,

transaction costs, resource endowment, and institutional

context. The most important gains from CBC result from

higher efficiency and/or effectiveness in service provision

due to economies of scale or scope or of internalized

externalities through CBC. However, together with direct

financial gains from CBC, the individual motivation of the

actors in charge of establishing such cooperation and the

interrelatedness of the problems addressed also play an

important enabling role in defining potential gains

(pp. 54–67).

Since “cooperation is not simply a matter of choosing

and engaging, but entails complex negotiations, sharing

and collectively delivering services”(p. 67), transaction

costs are of utmost importance when it comes to CBC.

Received: 19 September 2022

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13558

1198 © 2022 American Society for Public Administration. Public Admin Rev. 2022;82:1198–1205.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/puar