My research is in the areas of urban and regional economics and applied economics and I am interested in issues surrounding natural resource amenities, industrial variety at the firm and regional level and transition towards more resource use efficient firms and production processes. I am engaged in several interdisciplinary projects that focus on different dimensions of society’s sustainability transformation where we examine how industrial variety can assist firms to adapt to climate change and develop production systems and industrial structures that are resilient to climatic and economic disruptions. I am also engaged in collaborations with researchers from KTH, University of Cambridge and CeFEO to investigate changing patterns in labour mobility and remote work in a post-pandemic setting.
Production Economics (FÖ0476), Sustainability Perspectives (HU0001), Nationalekonomiska perspektiv på jordbruk och miljö (NA0188).
Ongoing research projects
"The economic potential of AgroEcological farming practices in times of severe climatic and economic disruptions" Formas 2024-2026. Pia Nilsson (PI), Riccardo Bommarco, Shon Ferguson, Helena Hansson, Thomas Slijper and Giulia Vico.
“Towards sustainable preparedness in Swedish agriculture”, Formas 2022-2025, Helena Hansson (PI), Nicklas Bengtsson, Georg Carlsson, Camilla Eriksson, Pia Nilsson, Elin Röös.
“Transforming the food value chain based on ecologically and economically sustainable crop production (TRANSECO)”, Formas 2022-2025, Riccardo Bommarco (PI), Göran Bergkvist, Helena Hansson, Ola Lundin, Pia Nilsson, Giulia Vico.
"Economic effects of adoption to agroecological farming in conventional and organic farming", Formas 2020-2024, Pia Nilsson (PI), Helena Hansson, Riccardo Bommarco, Brian Kuns.
"Distansarbete och landsbygdsutveckling efter pandemin", Formas 2021-2027, Hans Westlund (PI), Lucia Naldi, Johan P Larsson, Pia Nilsson, Eleanor Johansson.
Eleanor Johansson, PhD candidate in Economics, main supervisor.
Oluwaseun Adedeji, PhD candidate in Economics, main supervisor.
Anne Dietrich, PhD candidate in Economics, deputy supervisor.
Schaak, H., Bommarco, R., Hansson, H., Kuns, B., & Nilsson, P. (2023). Long-term trends in functional crop diversity across Swedish farms. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 343, 108269.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2022.108269
Wixe, S., Nilsson, P., Naldi, L., & Westlund, H. (2023). The role of collaboration and external knowledge for innovation in small food firms, The Annals of Regional Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-021-01087-6
Nilsson, P. Bommarco, R, Hansson, H, Kuns, B & Schaak, H. (2022). Farm performance and input self-sufficiency increases with functional crop diversity on Swedish farms. Ecological Economics, Vol 198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107465
Nilsson, P., & Wixe, S. (2022). Assessing long-term effects of CAP investment support on indicators of farm performance, European Review of Agricultural Economics. https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbab038
Westlund, H., & Nilsson, P. (2022). Agriculture’s Transformation and Land-use Change in a Post Urban World: A Case study of the Stockholm Region, Journal of Rural Studies. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.07.002
Naldi, L., Nilsson., P., Westlund, H., & Wixe, S. (2021). Amenities and new firm formation in rural areas, Journal of Rural Studies, 85:32-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.05.023
Hansson, H., & Nilsson, P. (2021). Foundations of Agricultural Market Analysis
and Agricultural Policy, European Review of Agricultural Economics, 48(5), 1252–1254. https//doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbab021
Wixe, S., Naldi, L., Nilsson, P., Steiner, M., Westlund, H., Filippi, M., Galliano, D., Mossböck, J & Steiner, M. (2020). On smart business in rural areas. Entrepreneurship, innovation and their determinants. https//doi.org/10.4324/9780429354670-3
Westlund, H., Nilsson, P., Wixe, S., & Naldi, L. (2020). Case studies on innovation and entrepreneurship in rural areas from Sweden. In: Torre, A., Corsi, S., Steiner, M., Wallet, F, & Westlund, H. (Eds) Smart Development for Rural Areas. Routledge. doi.org/10.4324/9780429354670-9.
Nilsson, P., & Wixe, S. (2020). Förväntade effekter av investeringsstöd inom
landsbygdsprogrammet. Jordbruksverket, UTV2020:3.
Nilsson, P., Backman, M., Bjerke, L., & Maniriho, A. (2019). One cow per poor family: effects on the growth of consumption and crop production, World Development, 114:1-12. https//doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.09.024
Nilsson, P. (2019). The role of land use consolidation in improving crop yields among farm households in Rwanda. The Journal of Development Studies, 55(8), 1726-1740. https//doi.org/ 10.1080/00220388.2018.1520217
Nilsson, P. (2019). Spatial spillovers and households’ involvement in the non-farm sector: evidence from rural Rwanda. Regional Studies, 53(5), 731-740. https//doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2018.1482415
Backman, M., & Nilsson, P. (2018). The role of cultural heritage in attracting skilled individuals. Journal of Cultural Economics, 42(1), 111-138. https//doi.org/10.1007/s10824-016-9289-2
Johansson, M., Nilsson., P., & Westlund, H. (2018). Migration and Ageing in Expanding and Shrinking European Regions. In: U. Blien et al. (Eds.). Modeling Aging and Migration Effects on Spatial Labor Markets. Advances in Regional Science. Berlin. Springer-Verlag. https//doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68563-2.7.
Nilsson, P. (2017). Productivity effects of CAP investment support: Evidence from Sweden using matched panel data. Land Use Policy, 66, 172-182. https//doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.04.043
Nilsson, P. (2017). Empirical Assessment of the Smart Specialization Concept on Firm Performance in European Urban and Rural Regions. Review of Regional Studies, 47(2), 153-174. https://rrs.scholasticahq.com/article/8021.pdf.
Nilsson, P. (2017). Are valuations of place-based Amenities driven by Scale? Housing Studies, 32(4), 449-469. https//doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2016.1219330
Nilsson, P. (2016). The Influence of Related and Unrelated Industry Diversity on Retail Firm Failure. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 28, 219–227. https//doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2015.09.006
Naldi. L, Nilsson. P, Westlund. H., & Wixe. S. (2015). What is Smart Rural Development? Journal of Rural Studies. 40, 90-101. https//doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2015.06.006
Nilsson, P. (2015). The influence of Urban and Natural Amenities on Second Home Prices. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 30(3), 427-450. https//doi.org/10.1007/s10901-014-9421-6
Johansson, M., Nilsson, P., & Westlund, H. (2015). Demographic and Rural
Trends in Europe. In: Friedrich, M., Westlund, H., &, Kobayashi,K. (Eds.). Social
Capital and Development Trends in Rural Areas, pp. 129-158. Vol. 10. ISBN: 978-91-86345-64-8.
Nilsson, P. (2014). Natural Amenities in Urban Space – a Geographically Weighted Regression Approach. Landscape and Urban Planning, 121, 45-54. https//doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2013.08.017
Karlsson, J., & Nilsson, P. (2014). Capitalisation of Single Farm Payment on Farm Price: An Analysis of Swedish Farm Prices using Farm-level data. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 41(2), 279-300. https//doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbt021
Nilsson, P., & Johansson, S. (2013). Location Determinants of Agricultural Land Prices. Review of Regional Research, 33(1), 1-21. https//doi.org/10.1007/s10037-012-0071-4