Cross-border working is a phenomenon that has concerned a growing number of people in Europe since the beginning of the 2000s. Lorraine, which constitutes a large labour pool and until the recent territorial reform was the only French region with borders with three countries, is concerned by large-scale flows into Luxembourg and to a lesser extent into Germany, and therefore represents a pertinent area to study to identify the geographical and economic dimensions of cross-border working. Cross-border working is analysed as a factor in regulating the job market through its heterogeneity, but also the legal standardisation of the status of the cross-border worker.
The object of the current Thematic Issue is not to focus on the individuals (the cross-border commuters) but on the organization of the cross-border labor markets. We move from a micro perspective to a macro perspective in order to underline the diversity of the cross-border labor markets (at the French borders, for example) and shed light on the many aspects that impact cross-border supply or demand. Trying to understand the whole system that goes beyond the cross-border flows, the question we address in this thematic issue is about the organization of the labor markets: is the system organized in a cross-border way? Or do the borders still prevent a genuinely integrated cross-border labor market?
