Carola Sommer

Biographic Data

ID4442963
NAMECarola Sommer
GIVEN NAMESCarola
FAMILY NAMESommer
SIGNATURESOMMER C
AFFILIATIONSFriedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
ORCID0000-0002-0100-7891
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS8
TOTAL CITATIONS10
WORKS AS AUTHOR8
WORKS AS EDITOR0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2021
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX2

  • The role of endogenous and exogenous actors in rural cultural development

    Carola Sommer, Jessica Fittkau-Möller et al.ARTICLEJournal of Rural Studies2026

    Cultural amenities play a significant role in fostering rural development by enhancing quality of life, social cohesion, and place attachment. However, cultural initiatives, particularly in rural regions, often face structural challenges, including limited access to funding, expertise, and stakeholder networks. This paper conceptualises rural cultural work through the lens of neo-endogenous regional development, highlighting the interplay between…

  • Border region economies

    Open AccessTobias Chilla, Hannah Paul et al.ARTICLEEnvironment and Planning A…2026

    While borders have traditionally been understood as barriers that increase transaction costs and divide economic space, processes of liberalization and integration also create opportunities for cross-border interaction. Building on relational economic geography, this paper examines how different forms of proximity shape cross-border economic integration in European border regions. Empirically, the study analyzes three agri-food sectors in Europea…

  • What drives the change? Critical junctures in the Beeronomics of Bavaria and Czechia

    Open AccessCarola Sommer, Hannah Paul et al.ARTICLEContemporary Social Science2026

    Since the late twentieth century, the beer sectors in Bavaria and Czechia have shown both convergence and divergence in their responses to contemporary disruptions. Through a comparative economic-geographical analysis, we use a process tracing method to emphasise critical junctures and investigate sectoral, systemic, endogenous, and exogenous impulses. The findings are then systematised into a transferable 2 × 2 heuristic for analysing critical j…

  • Economy and Border Regions – A Research Gap? Results from a Scoping Review

    Open AccessH G Balfour Paul, Hannah Paul et al.ARTICLEJournal of Borderlands Studies2026

    Borders are a prominent element in economies: international interactions cross at least one border, marking differences in regulation. Classical economics sees borders mainly in terms of transaction costs, which can be decreased through trade liberalization, as illustrated by free trade agreements and the European integration process. More critical approaches reflect on who profits from border regimes and liberalization, and who does not. At the …

  • Bridging the local–global divide

    Open AccessCarola Sommer, Markus Lambracht et al.ARTICLEGeografiska Annaler Series B…2026References: 23

  • Digital social innovations in rural areas – process tracing and mapping critical junctures

    Open AccessCarola Sommer, Tobias Chilla et al.ARTICLEJournal of Rural Studies2024Cited by: 2References: 12

  • The regional dimension in GPN – Mapping value creation and governance of the Bavarian beer sector

    Open AccessCarola Sommer, Carola Wilhelm et al.ARTICLEGeoforum2023Cited by: 2References: 15

    Contemporary crises have stimulated a new political and scientific interest in economic power structures and regionalisation. In particular, this concerns the local–global nexus, a key argument within the Global Production Networks (GPN) literature. This addresses the question of how global governance concepts help us understand regional production networks within multiscale production processes, mostly linked to transnational corporations. We co…

  • Place attachment and digitalisation in rural regions

    Open AccessBirnbaum Lisa, Carola Sommer et al.ARTICLEJournal of Rural Studies2021Cited by: 6References: 18

    This paper reflects on place attachment in times of digitalisation in rural regions. Our qualitative study explores the extent to which and with which characteristics place attachment ‘translates’ into the digital format. The paper analyses 193 digital projects presented in the internet. These cases cover several European countries with a particular focus on Germany. The analysis is based on a three-dimensional framework involving attachment conc…