Dr Leandro Sepulveda is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research (CEEDR), Middlesex University Business School. He has more than twenty years’ experience on research specialising in enterprise, communities and socioeconomic development. His current research interests include social enterprise, public services and the social economy; social inequalities; small business, entrepreneurship and economic development; and population diversity and development in urban city economies. His work in the UK and Europe has been commissioned/funded by public agencies including the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Office for Civil Society (OCS), research councils such as the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as well as non-profit organisations (Youth Business International and School for Social Entrepreneurs) and the European Commission (EQUAL, Horizon2020 programmes). Leandro worked in Latin America as an external consultant for the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC-UN). He has led on a H2020-MSCA-RISE project funded by the European Commission comprising ten universities across Europe (in Finland, France, Italy, Spain, UK) and nine in Latin America (in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay). Overall the research projects which Leandro has led and/or been involved in are committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity in research particularly in relation to sensitive issues such as gender, nationality/citizenship, age, ethnicity, religion, culture and socio-economic background.
Personal video
Here is a 1-minute video of some of my recent research
Spanish (native)
English (fluent)
Portuguese (working knowledge)
Italian (working knowledge)
Leandro currently supervises the following doctoral students:
Perihan M. Abdelghaly
Thesis title (provisional): SMEs and corruption in Egypt
Email: PA585@live.mdx.ac.uk
Yuka Yoon
Thesis title (provisional): Ambidexterety in social ventures: The paradox of missions, profits and funding
Email: yuka.yoon@gmail.com
Dr Jude Kenechi Onyima
Thesis title: Breakout and transnational immigrant entrepreneurs
Dr Stanislaus Iroefe Maduka
Thesis title: 'An examination of SME Finance in Nigeria'
Email: madukastan@ymail.com
Dr Anthony Ayakwah
Thesis title: 'Internationalisation of agro-processing SME clusters in Ghana'
Email: A.Ayakwah@mdx.ac.uk
Dr Valentina Morretta
Thesis title: 'Understanding the relationship between local resources and firms’ performance: an investigation across Italian territories'
Email: VM429@live.mdx.ac.uk
Dr Isaac Oduro Amoako
Thesis title: 'SME Exporting Determinants: The Power of Institutions on Networking and Performance in a Developing Country'
Email: odumako56@yahoo.co.uk
Dr Sara Calvo
Thesis title: 'Ethnic minority related social enterprise and the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Legacy'
Email: S.Calvo@mdx.ac.uk
Dr Daniel Ozarow
Thesis title: 'Study of the Phenomenon of New Poors in Argentina'
Email: D.Ozarow@mdx.ac.uk
Scarponetti, P., Sepulveda, L. and Martin-Artiles, A. (2021) Pension systems compared: A polarised perspective, a diverse reality. In López-Roldán, P. and Fachelli, S. (Eds) Towards a Comparative Analysis of Social Inequalities between Europe and Latin America, Springer, pp 419-451.
Sepulveda, Leandro, Lyon, Fergus and Vickers, Ian (2020) Implementing democratic governance and ownership: the interplay of structure and culture in public service social enterprises. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. ISSN 0957-8765 (Accepted/In press)
Morretta, Valentina, Syrett, Stephen and Sepulveda, Leandro (2019) Territorial capital as a source of firm competitive advantage: evidence from the North and South of Italy. European Planning Studies. ISSN 0965-4313 (Accepted/In press) (doi:10.1080/09654313.2020.1722067)
Poy, S. and Sepulveda, L. (2018) Inequality and Poverty Reduction and the Limits of Social Protection Systems: The Case of Argentina during the Stage of Economic Expansion 2003-2014. H2020-INCASI Working Paper Series 2018, number 5. https://ddd.uab.cat/record/199391
Haddock-Millar, J., Sanyal, C., Kaye, N., Sepulveda, L., Owen, R. and Syrett, S. (2018) Monitoring and Evaluating Business Mentoring: Towards a Research and Evaluation Toolkit to Measure Impact, International Journal of HRD Practice Policy and Research, 3 (2) 35:47. ISSN 2397-4583
Sepulveda, L., Lyon, F. and Vickers, I. (2018) Social Enterprise Spinouts: An institutional analysis of their emergence and potential. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, DOI 10.1080/09537325.2018.1431391.
Ayakwah, A., Sepulveda, L. and Lyon, F. (2018) Competitive or cooperative relationships in clusters: A comparative study of two internationalising agro-processing clusters in Ghana, Critical Perspectives on International Business. DOI10.1108/cpoib-12-2016-0063.
Vickers, I., Lyon, F., Sepulveda, L. and McMullin, C. (2017) Public service innovation and multiple institutional logics: The case of hybrid social enterprises providers of health and wellbeing. Research Policy. Doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2017.08.003.
Sepulveda, L. (2015) Social Enterprise - A new phenomenon in the field of economic and social welfare? Social Policy & Administration. 49 (7): 842-861.
2021-2021 Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority social/community enterprise support and social investment study, commissioned by Power To Change (PTC). The study aims to improve our understanding of how well support programmes serve the needs of BAME communities.
Pac-Salas, David and Sepulveda, Leandro and Baez Melian, Juan Miguel and Minguijon, Jaime (2023) Understanding the links between diversity and creativity as assessed in the boroughs of London. Smart Cities , 6 (2). pp. 1152-1166. ISSN 2624-6511
Vickers, Ian and Lyon, Fergus and Sepulveda, Leandro and Brennan, Geraldine (2022) Public service mutuals: transforming how services are delivered through social enterprise and democratic governance. Project Report. Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). (Published online first)
Sanyal, Chandana and Haddock-Millar, Julie and Sepulveda, Leandro and Owen, Robyn and Syrett, Stephen and Kaye, Neil (2022) Turning job seekers into job creators through entrepreneurship mentoring at Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust, India. In: Mentoring with a Coaching Attitude: International Corporate Mentorship that Works. Cannio, Sylviane , ed. Open University, London. (Accepted/In press)
Khan, Muhammad Salman and Sepulveda, Leandro (2022) Conflict, displacement, and economic revival: the case of the internally displaced minority entrepreneurs in Pakistan. Strategic Change , 31 (4). pp. 461-477. ISSN 1086-1718
Morretta, Valentina and Syrett, Stephen and Sepulveda, Leandro (2020) Territorial capital as a source of firm competitive advantage: evidence from the North and South of Italy. European Planning Studies , 28 (12). pp. 2390-2408. ISSN 0965-4313
Leandro has worked on a number of ESRC and EU funded research projects and programmes.
2021-2021 Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority social/community enterprise support and social investment study, commissioned by Power To Change (PTC). The study aims to improve our understanding of how well support programmes serve the needs of BAME communities.
2016-2020 Horizon 2020-Marie Curie-RISE (Research & Innovation Staff Exchange) INCASI project (International Network for Comparative Analysis of Social Inequalities) funded by the European Commission. The grant will enable the creation of an international network to study global trends in social inequalities in Europe and Latin America. The INCASI consortium comprises 19 universities, 10 from Europe (Finland, France, Italy, Spain, UK) and 9 from Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay). H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 Project No 691004.Principal Investigator for Middlesex University.
The Guardian – Guardian Professional/Social Enterprise Network, cited in article entitled 'Avoiding the Perception of social enterprises as a magic wand' published on 25/11/10 by Saba Salman.
Social Enterprise and Equalities, funded by Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC) and Social Enterprise Capacity Building Cluster (CBC), with GlobalNet21. Organising team and podcast on 24/05/12. The project seeks to rise awareness among policy makers about both the potential and limitations of social enterprise in addressing Equality issues in England by share ideas, experiences and concerns with academics and public in general through podcast, webinars and a seminar in the House of Commons (Equality Commission) in June 2012.
Referee for the following peer reviewed academic journals:
Policy & Politics; Entrepreneurship & Regional Development; Journal of Public Policy; International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research; Public Management Review; and Social Enterprise Journal.
Reviewer for:
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); Leverhulme Trust; and European Research Councils - Open Research Area In Europe For The Social Sciences (ORA).