Randi Hjalmarsson is currently Professor at the Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden, as well as a part-time Professor at the School of Economics and Finance at Queen Mary, University of London. She is also a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research. She was previously an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, School of Public Policy. Her research focuses on empirical questions related to the economics of crime. In particular, she has studied the effect of incarceration on education and subsequent criminal activity; one of these papers focuses on identifying peer effects in the criminal justice system. Other research questions are policy driven, such as whether the death penalty has a deterrent effect and whether gun shows in the U.S. increase suicide and homicide rates in the geographic areas surrounding the shows. Her current research focuses on racial and gender biases in jury decisions and on the role of the family and neighborhood in determining criminal behavior.

Hjalmarsson received a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Columbia University in 1998, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University in 2005.