Welcome! 

I am an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and the Deputy Director of the MBA at the University of Essex (UK) - Essex Business School (EBS), Faculty of Social Sciences. Before joining EBS, I was a Postdoctoral scholar (collaborating with Sharon A. Alvarez) at the Katz Graduate School of Business of the University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA. 

I received my Ph.D. in Management, with the highest distinction, from IE Business School, Madrid, Spain with concentrations in Entrepreneurship, Organization Theory, and Strategic Management. 

Dissertation: Disentangling Legitimacy: Three Essays on Legitimacy Perceptions 

Advisor: Julio O. De Castro (IE Business School, Spain) 

Committee members: Sharon A. Alvarez (Univ. of Pittsburgh, USA); Marco Giarratana (IE Business School, Spain); Isabel Guttiérez-Calderón (Carlos 3 Univ. Spain); Dean A. Shepherd (Univ. of Notre Dame, USA); Taiyuan Wang (CEIBS, China)

My research program is broadly concerned with understanding the different factors that enhance or constrain the success of entrepreneurial endeavors, and innovations in new and established firms. More specifically, I am interested in studying how different audiences make legitimacy judgments under conditions conducive to lack of legitimacy and their implications for entrepreneurial endeavors. 

My work draws on theories from legitimacy, justice, social psychology, and linguistics to reveal the micro-foundational mechanisms that explain observed macro phenomena.         

To carry out my research, I employ various methods, such as conjoint experiments, surveys, interviews, and text analysis. Combining different methods has allowed me to embark on the examination of unique and as-of-yet unaddressed research questions.

My research has been published in journals such as the Journal of Management Studies or Industrial Economics and has been featured in best paper proceedings such as Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research and Academy of Management Annual Meeting Best Paper Proceedings.  I regularly present my research at leading international conferences, including the Academy of Management (AOM), the Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference, the European Group for Organization Studies (EGOS), and the European Academy of Management (EURAM), and think tanks such as The Brookings Institution ( Washington D.C).

I had the honor of being awarded the French State Award for Academic Excellence and a Best Paper Award at the Iberoamerican Academy of Management.