Admitted to PhD Programme: 2011-08-15

Supervisor: Karl-Johan Lundquist

Assistant supervisor: Jerker Moodysson

Presentation

Occupation: PhD student 100%, with focus on Economic Geography
Departmental activities:

• PhD representative in the board of KEG 
• PhD representative in PhD- and Post-Doc selection committees
• A member of the JoL committee (Jämställdhet och Likabehandling)
• Supervision on B and C level (Bachelor level)

My name is Mr. Hjalti Nielsen (BSc, MSc, MA) and since 2011 I have been a PhD candidate at the Department of Human Geography, with a specific focus on the sub-field of Economic Geography. I am mainly interested in the problems and possibilities of [novel] economic activities in peripheral areas. 

Ongoing research

My research focus is on how knowledge intensive firms (KIFs) in remote and low-populated non-core areas in Sweden are affected by their location. KIFs are mostly to be found in highly populated core areas due to the sheer volume of agglomeration economies and the importance of local knowledge externalities, but such qualities are not to be found in low-populated non-core areas, and are not easily communicated over distance. Hence, the study seeks to increase our learning on from what perspective we can explain KIFs location in non-core areas and if and how they can either complement or compensate the relative lack of local business opportunities and knowledge externalities through collaborations with non-local actors.

Selected Publications

Chaminade, C. & Nielsen, H. (2012). Transnational innovation systems. CEPAL - Serie Estudios y perspectivas - México - N° 132. United Nations Publications: Mexico City.
Benediktsson, K. & Nielsen, H. (2008). Residence and Service: A survey how levels of service influence evacuation in selected municipalities 1996-2006. [Búseta og þjónusta: Athugun á áhrifum þjónustustigs á brottflutning frá völdum sveitarfélögum 1996–2006]. Reykjavík: University of Iceland, Dept. of  Geography and Tourism – Working Paper. 
Nielsen, H. (2007). Proximity in the era of globalisation: An example from the IT-sector in Chennai, India. [Nálægð á tímum hnattvæðingar: Dæmi úr hugbúnaðargeiranum í Chennai á Indlandi], Landabréfið; Journal of the Association of Icelandic Geographers, 23(1). 43-56.