Values in airport passport controls - what regimes of value claim a stake and what values are co-created?

Abstract: As a part of the ongoing political debate regarding the borders within the European Union this paper aims at contributing to the knowledge around value creation within the specific service environment of passport controls in airports, characterized as being highly political. More specifically this paper, being part of the social constructivist framework, investigates what value regimes that claim a stake within the service environment of passport controls adopting Appadurai’s concept from 1986, and what values are co-created/co-destructed in this context, using Vargo and Lusch’s Service Dominant Logic. The passport control of Copenhagen Airport constitutes the case within this paper. The case is investigated using a mixed method approach including both a qualitative documentary analysis, walking interviews, in-depth interviews and an observation, allowing for an examination of all the actors within the passport control. It is concluded that the actors that claim a stake all value different aspects within the passport control. Furthermore, it is shown how the airport and the police specifically belong to two different value regimes within the service provision, which is closely linked to the political dimension of the passport control. The paper also implies that collaboration between actors belonging to different value regimes is possible despite disagreements. Finally, the use of Vargo and Lusch’s SDL is evaluated within the highly political environment of airport passport controls, proposing further research combining Vargo and Lusch’s theory with Appadurai’s concept of value regimes.