“…Furthermore, while some authors found that border effects in North America (Brown & Anderson, ) as well as in Europe (Nitsch, ) were declining, other studies suggest that a total reduction of border effects might be illusory, as defunct historical borders have persistent effects on trade, even when formal political barriers are absent (Nitsch & Wolf, ). The most recent advances in this strand of literature were dedicated to the decomposition of border effects and the examination of how the different obstacles posed by political borders (e.g., physical, institutional, cultural) impede economic development in cross‐border regions (Capello, Caragliu, & Fratesi, ; Capello, Caragliu, & Fratesi, ; Capello et al, ).…”