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I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences and a faculty in the Public Policy Ph.D. program at UNC Charlotte. My research interests are focused on transportation, housing, and firm location. In particular I am interested in the effects of public and private investments on firm and household location behavior and how these micro-level behaviors shape intra-urban sorting patterns.
Some of my recent research projects include explorations into the effects of rail transit investments on neighborhood change and residential mobility among low-income individuals; social and economic consequences associated with the suburbanization of poverty; property value effects from craft breweries; and effects of neighborhood foreclosure rates on mortgage lending denial rates. My research is quantitative with theoretical grounding in economics as well as geography.
Click here for a short CV.

Education

Ph.D. (2015) Spatially Integrated Social Science (Geography/Economics), University of Toledo
M.A. (2011) Economics, University of Toledo
M.Sc. (2009) Economics, Luleå University of Technology (Sweden)

Teaching

Regional Economic Development
Applied Regional Analysis
Retail Location
Transportation Analysis Methods
Applied Research in Geography

Recent Publications

Nilsson. I., J. Wartell, and N. Reid, 2020. Craft Breweries and Neighborhood Crime: Are They Related? Papers in Applied Geography, forthcoming.
Delmelle, E.C., I. Nilsson, and J. Schuch, 2020. Who’s Moving In? A Longitudinal Analysis of Home Purchase Loan Borrowers in New Transit Neighborhoods. Geographical Analysis, forthcoming.
Delmelle, E.C. and I. Nilsson, 2020. New Rail Transit Stations and the Out-Migration of Low-Income Residents. Urban Studies, 57:134-151.
Nilsson, I. and N. Reid, 2019. The Value of a Craft Brewery: On the Relationship between Craft Breweries and Property Values. Growth and Change, 50:689-704.
Nilsson, I., O. Smirnov, N. Reid, and M. Lehnert, 2019. To Cluster or Not to Cluster? Spatial Determinants of Closures in the American Craft Brewing Industry. Papers in Regional Science, 98:1759-1778.
Canales, K.L., I. Nilsson, and E.C. Delmelle, 2019. Do Light Rail Transit Investments Increase Employment Opportunities? The Case of Charlotte, North Carolina. Regional Science Policy & Practice, 11:189-202.
Hammel, D. and I. Nilsson, 2019. Mortgage Foreclosures, Race and Post-Recession Lending. The Professional Geographer, 71:536-550.
Nilsson, I. and O. Smirnov, 2018. Limited Location Options: Measuring Spatial Interactions among Retailers under Zoning Restrictions. Geographical Analysis, 50:358-377.
Nilsson, I. and E.C. Delmelle, 2018. Transit Investments and Neighborhood Change: On the Likelihood of Change. Journal of Transport Geography, 66:167-179.
Nilsson, I., N. Reid, and M. Lehnert, 2018. Geographic Patterns of Craft Breweries at the Intraurban Scale. The Professional Geographer, 70:114-125.
Nilsson, I. and O. Smirnov, 2017. Clustering vs. Relative Location: Measuring Spatial Interactions between Retail Outlets. Papers in Regional Science, 96:721-741.
Haggquist, E. and I. Nilsson, 2017. Factors Influencing the Adoption of Geological Information in Swedish Municipalities. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 60:1112-1126.
Schafer, S. and I. Nilsson, 2016. The Effects of Public and Private Investments in ITS on Freight Transportation Outcomes. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2548:90-96.
Nilsson, I. and O. Smirnov, 2016. Measuring the Effect of Transportation Infrastructure on Retail Firm Co-Location Patterns. Journal of Transport Geography, 51:110-118.