IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/tvecsg/v99y2008i4p497-505.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Shopping, Borders And Unfamiliarity: Consumer Mobility In Europe

Author

Listed:
  • BAS SPIERINGS
  • MARTIN VAN DER VELDE

Abstract

National borders are often considered to constrain the international flow of products, services, people and capital. However, borders and differences between countries could also promote cross‐border mobility. This contribution investigates what discourages and encourages cross‐border shopping mobility. This is done by categorising differences between countries into more ‘rational differences’ on the one hand and more ‘emotional differences’ on the other hand. Furthermore, the ‘bandwidth of unfamiliarity’ concept is introduced to scrutinise how the interpretation by shoppers of both rational and emotional differences generates (im)mobility. In so doing, a ‘border paradox’ is discussed, where increasing cross‐border integration (e.g. in the form of regional ‘homogenisation’) could coincide with decreasing cross‐border mobility. This paradox is used here to reveal a possible flipside of the European Union policy to promote international mobility, by trying to dissolve borders between member states.

Suggested Citation

  • Bas Spierings & Martin Van Der Velde, 2008. "Shopping, Borders And Unfamiliarity: Consumer Mobility In Europe," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 99(4), pages 497-505, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:tvecsg:v:99:y:2008:i:4:p:497-505
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9663.2008.00484.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9663.2008.00484.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9663.2008.00484.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Asplund, Marcus & Friberg, Richard & Wilander, Fredrik, 2007. "Demand and distance: Evidence on cross-border shopping," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1-2), pages 141-157, February.
    2. Ferris, J. Stephen, 2000. "The Determinants of Cross Border Shopping: Implications for Tax Revenues and Institutional Change," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 53(n. 4), pages 801-24, December.
    3. Henk van Houtum, 1999. "Internationalisation and Mental Borders," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 90(3), pages 329-335, August.
    4. Kimberley Scharf, 1999. "Scale Economies in Cross-Border Shopping and Commodity Taxation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 6(1), pages 89-99, February.
    5. Ferris, J. Stephen, 2000. "The Determinants of Cross Border Shopping: Implications for Tax Revenues and Institutional Change," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 53(4), pages 801-824, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marta Gwiaździńska-Goraj & Aleksandra Jezierska-Thöle & Małgorzata Dudzińska, 2022. "Assessment of the Living Conditions in Polish and German Transborder Regions in the Context of Strengthening Territorial Cohesion in the European Union: Competitiveness or Complementation?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 29-59, August.
    2. Bianca B. Szytniewski & Bas Spierings, 2018. "Place Image Formation and Cross‐Border Shopping: German Shoppers in the Polish Bazaar in Słubice," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 109(2), pages 295-308, April.
    3. Ruben Gielis, 2009. "Borders Make The Difference: Migrant Transnationalism As A Border Experience," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 100(5), pages 598-609, December.
    4. Henrik Basche, 2021. "Exploring Determinants of ‘Mental Distance’ in Cross‐Border Contexts," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 112(3), pages 288-303, July.
    5. Frédéric Durand & Jen Nelles, 2014. "Dossier: Institutions and skilled mobility. Guest Editors: Gery Nijenhuis & Maggi W.H. Leung," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 105(5), pages 573-590, December.
    6. Iwona M. Batyk & Jan Žukovskis & Lina Pilelienė, 2023. "Determinants of Cross-Border Food Purchases on the European Union Market: Research Results from the Lithuanian–Polish Border," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-21, June.
    7. Anna A. Mikhaylova & Jan A. Wendt & Dmitry V. Hvaley & Agnieszka Bógdał-Brzezińska & Andrey S. Mikhaylov, 2022. "Impact of Cross-Border Tourism on the Sustainable Development of Rural Areas in the Russian–Polish and Russian–Kazakh Borderlands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-29, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leal, Andrés & López-Laborda, Julio & Rodrigo, Fernando, 2009. "Prices, taxes and automotive fuel cross-border shopping," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 225-234.
    2. repec:kap:iaecre:v:16:y:2010:i:2:p:135-148 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Andrés Leal & Julio López-Laborda & Fernando Rodrigo, 2010. "Cross-Border Shopping: A Survey," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 16(2), pages 135-148, May.
    4. Baggs, Jen & Fung, Loretta & Lapham, Beverly, 2018. "Exchange rates, cross-border travel, and retailers: Theory and empirics," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 59-79.
    5. Jen Baggs & Eugene Beaulieu & Loretta Fung & Beverly Lapham, 2016. "Firm Dynamics in Retail Trade: The Response of Canadian Retailers to Exchange Rate Shocks," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 635-666, August.
    6. Thomas M. Fullerton & Adam G. Walke, 2019. "Cross-Border Shopping and Employment Patterns in the Southwestern United States," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 10(03), pages 1-19, October.
    7. Emmanuel Chavez & Cristobal Dominguez, 2021. "Who pays for a Value Added Tax Hike at an International Border? Evidence from Mexico," PSE Working Papers halshs-03364026, HAL.
    8. Jen Baggs & Loretta Fung & Beverly Lapham, 2021. "An Empirical Evaluation of the Effect of Covid-19 Travel Restrictions on Canadians' Cross Border Travel and Canadian Retailers," Working Paper 1457, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    9. Pouya Ebrahimi & François Vaillancourt, 2015. "La taxation de la consommation et les ventes au détail : Recension des écrits et analyse empirique," CIRANO Project Reports 2015rp-09, CIRANO.
    10. Head, Keith & , & Tappata, Mariano, 2012. "Consumer Arbitrage Across a Porous Border," CEPR Discussion Papers 8730, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Davis, Lucas W., 2011. "The Effects of Preferential Vat Rates Near International Borders: Evidence From Mexico," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 64(1), pages 85-104, March.
    12. Tosun Mehmet S & Skidmore Mark L, 2007. "Cross-Border Shopping and the Sales Tax: An Examination of Food Purchases in West Virginia," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 7(1), pages 1-20, December.
    13. Zhe Chen & Michael B. Devereux & Beverly Lapham, 2017. "The Canadian border and the US dollar: The impact of exchange rate changes on US retailers," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1525-1555, December.
    14. Yoskowitz, David W. & Pisani, Michael J., 2007. "Risk and reward: Currency substitution and acceptance of the Mexican peso by firms in the United States southern frontier," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 422-434, July.
    15. Elbert Dijkgraaf & Raymond Gradus, 2007. "Explaining Sunday Shop Policies," De Economist, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 207-219, June.
    16. Lord, Kenneth R. & Putrevu, Sanjay & Shi, Yi Zheng, 2008. "Cultural influences on cross-border vacationing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 183-190, March.
    17. Leonzio Rizzo, 2008. "Local government responsiveness to federal transfers: theory and evidence," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(3), pages 316-337, June.
    18. J. Stephen Ferris, 2009. "Quantifying Non-tariff Trading Barriers: What Difference Did the U.S. Security Precautions Following 9/11 Make to Canadian Cross Border Shopping? -revised version: Quantifying Non-Tariff Trade Barrier," Carleton Economic Papers 09-04, Carleton University, Department of Economics, revised Dec 2010.
    19. Aiura, Hiroshi & Ogawa, Hikaru, 2013. "Unit tax versus ad valorem tax: A tax competition model with cross-border shopping," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 30-38.
    20. Adams, Scott & Cotti, Chad, 2008. "Drunk driving after the passage of smoking bans in bars," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1288-1305, June.
    21. Alm, James & Melnik, Mikhail I., 2010. "Do Ebay Sellers Comply With State Sales Taxes?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 63(2), pages 215-236, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:tvecsg:v:99:y:2008:i:4:p:497-505. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0040-747X .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.