Border-crossing business activity in the Barents Region: Understanding the drivers and barriers for transnational entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is an important engine for regional development. Globalization, as well as increased migration and contacts across national borders strongly influences economic activity. In Northern Norway, increased immigration and the opening of the Russian border have created new opportunities for entrepreneurial activity in recent years. This project will explore the drivers and barriers of transnational entrepreneurship (TE) as a source of new business activity in the Barents region. TE may lead to innovation and regional development through: 1) inward TE: immigrants who establish and develop new business activities in the region (immigrant entrepreneurship) and 2) outward TE: entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial firms from the region who start and develop business activities abroad (international entrepreneurship). We will study both entrepreneurship among immigrants in Finnmark and entrepreneurial firms from Northern Norway doing business in Northwest Russia. Our aim is to examine the drivers and barriers for TE in the Barents region and provide implications for how to promote regional development through TE.