Niles Maurice Hansen

Niles Maurice Hansen
BornJanuary 2, 1937
Louisville, Kentucky, United States
OccupationEconomist
EmployerUniversity of Texas at Austin
Known forRegional and urban economics

Niles Maurice Hansen (born January 2, 1937) is an American economist. He was Leroy G. Denman Jr. Regents Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in regional and urban economics.[1] He was President (1979–80) and Fellow (1993) of the Southern Regional Science Association; President (1981) of the Western Regional Science Association; and President (1991–92) of the North American Regional Science Council. In 2004 the North American Regional Science Council presented him the Walter Isard Award “for his distinguished scholarly achievements in the field of regional science."[2]

Research interests

Hansen's research focused on the role of economic and social infrastructure in regional development;[3][4][5] trans-border cooperation mechanisms in Europe and along the U.S.–Mexico border; population migration and urban size issues; and small and medium-size enterprises in innovative regional networks.

Early life and education

Hansen was born on January 2, 1937, to Danish parents in Louisville, Kentucky, where he grew up. He graduated from Louisville Male High School.[6] He earned a B.A. at Centre College in 1958 and a Ph.D. in Economics at Indiana University Bloomington in 1963.[6] His doctoral dissertation research on municipal infrastructure investment was carried out at Ghent University, Belgium, under a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship.

Academic career

Hansen joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin in 1963. From 1964 to 1965, he was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Paris, studying French regional planning.[7]

Between 1968 and 1975, he published numerous books, articles, and government reports concerning the integration of rural and urban infrastructure and labor markets.[8][9][10] His work during this period was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Office of Economic Opportunity, and the Ford Foundation.

In early 1975, he worked as a consultant to the World Bank on infrastructure and urbanization in Pakistan. In 1986, again as a World Bank consultant, he traveled to South Korea to provide technical assistance in development planning.

From 1975 to 1977, Hansen was based at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, Austria, studying human settlement systems.[11] A major part of his research there involved comparative analysis of border region policies in Europe, which he later extended to the U.S.–Mexico borderlands.[12][13]

In 1982, with NSF support, he conducted further research on European transboundary cooperation at the European Union in Strasbourg, France.[14]

Later work

Hansen's later research emphasized the role of small and medium-sized enterprises in regional development, especially in the context of flexible production and interfirm networking.[15] His field studies focused on regions in southern France[16] and Denmark.[17][18]

International engagement

Hansen participated in United Nations expert groups focused on population distribution in development planning,[19] environmental planning, and urbanization strategies in Asia.[20]

In 1987, he lectured in Turkey as a Fulbright 40th Anniversary Distinguished Fellow.

Awards and legacy

In 1988, Hansen received the Dean's Award for Outstanding Classroom Performance at UT Austin. From 1985 to 1988, he was a member of the National Research Council Panel evaluating NSF graduate fellowship applications in behavioral and social sciences.

In 2000, he contributed to an international research group in Sweden examining global gateway cities, with a case study of Miami.[21]

Retirement

Hansen retired from the University of Texas at Austin in 2003. In retirement, he has focused on travel, exercise, and volunteer work, notably at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and the Harry Ransom Center.

References

  1. ^ "Faculty Profile: Niles M. Hansen". University of Texas at Austin – Department of Economics. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  2. ^ "NARSC Awards & Prizes". North American Regional Science Council. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
  3. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1965). "The Structure and Determinants of Local Public Investment Expenditures". The Review of Economics and Statistics. 47 (2): 150–162. doi:10.2307/1924062. JSTOR 1924062. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  4. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1970). Rural Poverty and the Urban Crisis: A Strategy for Regional Development. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0313210799. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  5. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1965). "Unbalanced Growth and Regional Development". The Western Economic Journal. 4 (1): 3–14. doi:10.1111/j.1465-7295.1965.tb00931.x. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Gets Assistantship at Indiana University", Danville Advocate-Messenger, Danville, Kentucky, volume 93, number 50, August 22, 1958, page 2. (subscription required)
  7. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1968). French Regional Planning. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press; also published by Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-85224-044-1. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  8. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1972). "The Case for Government-Assisted Migration". In U.S. Commission on Population Growth and the American Future (ed.). Population Distribution and Policy. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 679–696. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  9. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1973). Location Preferences, Migration and Regional Growth. New York: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-06650-5. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  10. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1973). The Future of Nonmetropolitan America. Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-669-87106-7. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  11. ^ Hansen, Niles M., ed. (1977). Human Settlement Systems: International Perspectives on Structure, Change, and Public Policy. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Ballinger Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-88410-176-5. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  12. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1986). "Border Region Development and Cooperation: Western Europe and the U.S.–Mexico Borderlands in Comparative Perspective". In Oscar J. Martínez (ed.). Across Boundaries: Transborder Interaction in Comparative Perspective. El Paso: Texas Western Press. pp. 31–44. ISBN 978-0-87404-097-5. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  13. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1981). The Border Economy: Regional Development in the Southwest. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-75061-6. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  14. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1983). "International Cooperation in Border Regions: An Overview and Research Agenda". International Regional Science Review. 8 (3): 255–270. Bibcode:1983IRSRv...8..255H. doi:10.1177/016001768300800305. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  15. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (2001). "Knowledge Workers, Communication and Spatial Diffusion". In Johansson, Börje; Karlsson, Charlie; Stough, Roger R. (eds.). Theories of Endogenous Regional Growth. Advances in Spatial Science. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. pp. 315–329. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-59570-7_15. ISBN 978-3-642-64030-8. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  16. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1990). "Innovative Regional Milieux, Small Firms, and Regional Development: Evidence from Mediterranean France". The Annals of Regional Science. 24 (2): 107–123. Bibcode:1990ARegS..24..107H. doi:10.1007/BF01579726. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  17. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1991). "Factories in Danish Fields: How High-Wage, Flexible Production Has Succeeded in Peripheral Jutland". International Regional Science Review. 14 (2): 109–132. Bibcode:1991IRSRv..14..109H. doi:10.1177/016001769101400201. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  18. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1993). "Endogenous Growth Centers: Lessons from Rural Denmark". In Barkley, David L. (ed.). Economic Adaptation: Alternatives for Nonmetropolitan Areas. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. pp. 69–88. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  19. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1981). "A Review and Evaluation of Attempts to Direct Migrants to Smaller and Intermediate-Sized Cities". Population Distribution Policies in Development Planning. New York: United Nations. pp. 113–130. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  20. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (1982). "The Role of Small and Intermediate Cities in National Development Processes and Strategies". In Mathur, Om Prakash (ed.). Small Cities and National Development. Nagoya, Japan: United Nations Centre for Regional Development. pp. 301–326. ISBN 978-0-686-46347-4. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  21. ^ Hansen, Niles M. (2000). "Miami: Multicultural Gateway of the America". In Andersson, Åke E.; Andersson, David E. (eds.). Gateways to the Global Economy. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. pp. 124–146. ISBN 978-1-84064-389-3. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
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