Mary-Paz Arrieta-Paredes

Dr Mary-Paz Arrieta-Paredes FHEA, MSc, PhD

Senior Lecturer in Business Finance and Economics

Dr. Mary-Paz Arrieta-Paredes is a Senior Lecturer in Business Finance and Economics. She is an economist and holds an MSc and a Ph.D. in Economics by the University of Essex, with a doctoral specialism on strategic capital investment under uncertainty (a real options application). Her expertise resides in applying quantitative and mixed methods to research in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), with a focus on access to finance, innovation, and climate change adaptation for sustainable development, in both developed and developing economies. She strives to integrate her research work into teaching and learning in business finance and economics, also advancing post-graduate supervision in the crossroads of financial economics, industrial economics and applied econometrics. Her academic rigour is accompanied by prior experience as a Financial Coordinator and Business Finance Analyst, which underlines her insightful approach to policymaking initiatives.

Responsibilities within the university
  • Climate Change Investing (UG), 2024 - Present
  • Introduction to Financial Management (UG), 2020 - Present
  • International Business Finance (PG), 2020 - Present
  • Research Methods (PG), 2011 - Present
  • Econometrics (UG, PG), 2011 – 2016

Doctoral dissertation supervisions

  • Title: “The adoption of innovations, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and financial development in emerging economies: The impact of climate change on Indian Northern and Western SMEs” (Status: Transfer viva scheduled - 2026) – Kriti Sahay
  • Title: “Barriers of Access to Finance for Kenya Horticultural SMEs: A Case Study on Equity Bank Group (Status: Final viva scheduled - 2026) – James Mburu
  • Title: “An analysis of the impact of incremental innovations on the labour productivity and export activities of UK manufacturing Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)” (Status: Completed - 2025) – Innocent Mbachu
  • Title: “SME internationalisation, financing constraints and incremental innovations: the case of the Bahrain Kingdom” (Status: Completed - 2023) – Dr Ali Al Thawadi

Awards

Chevening Scholarship Award by The British Council (1997 - 2001)

Recognition
  • Reviewer for “Sustainability” (ISSN: 2071-1050)
  • Member of the ISBE SIG Entrepreneurial Finance

Research / Scholarly interests

Business and policy-making applications addressing (but not limited) to:

  • Sustainability and ESG in Small Business Finance
  • The financing of Innovations in SMEs
  • The Internationalisation of SMEs

Current project(s):

  • Sustainability and ESG in British SMEs: Tracking the Business Finance Surveys of the Business British Business Bank.
  • The Internationalisation of SMEs in Rwanda: Access to finance before and after Covid-19.
  • Sustainable Finance, Sustainability Goals, and the Adoption of Innovations in SMEs

Key funded projects

  • PEGFA Internal Grants, 2019 – 25 (4 parallel projects)
  • Consultancy Project: Collaboration between Greenwich Mencap and Greenwich University, 2015

Recent publications

Journal Articles

  • van Klyton, Aaron; Arrieta-Paredes, Mary-Paz; Scott, Jonathan; Byombi Kamasa, Vedaste; Duarte, Kevin and James Danowski. Entrepreneurial finance, news media narratives, and productive entrepreneurship in Rwanda’s entrepreneurial ecosystem: An entrepreneurial resourcefulness perspective (2026). Forthcoming
  • van Klyton, Aaron; Arrieta-Paredes, Mary-Paz; Byombi Kamasa, Vedaste and Rutabayiro Ngoga, Said (2024) Entrepreneurial financing: how global and regional export intentions affect financial and non-financial choices for small and midsized enterprises in low-income countries. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research. ISSN 1355-2554 (doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-01-2023-0081)
  • van Klyton, Aaron; Arrieta-Paredes, Mary-Paz; Palladino, Nicola and Soomaree, Ayush (2023) Hegemonic practices in multistakeholder internet governance: participatory Evangelism, quiet politics, and glorification of status quo at ICANN meetings. The Information Society, 39 (3). pp. 141-157. ISSN 0197-2243 (Print), 10876537 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2023.2194295)
  • Setiawan, Chandra, Meivitawanli, Bryna, Arrieta-Paredes, Mary-Paz, Morrison, Alastair M.  and Coca-Stefaniak, J. Andres (2021). Friendly locals and clean streets? – Evaluating Jakarta’s destination brand image. Sustainability, 13:7434. ISSN 2071-1050 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137434)
  • Arrieta Paredes, Mary-Paz, Hallsworth, Alan G. and Coca-Stefaniak, J. Andres (2020). Small shop survival – the financial response to a global financial crisis. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 53:101984. ISSN 0969-6989 (doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.101984)
  • Arrieta-Paredes, Mary-Paz and Cronin, Bruce (2016), “Exponential random graph models for management research: a case study of executive recruitment, European Management Journal. ISSN 0263-2373 (In Press) (doi:10.1016/j.emj.2016.08.002)
  • Arrieta-Paredes, M.-P. (2012), "Can economic knowledge be created in the classroom? Some insights from epistemologically-oriented interaction analysis: Mathematical registers and metacognitive skills", International Journal of Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education (IJCDSE), Vol. 3, Issue 4. http://dx.doi.org/10.20533/ijcdse.2042.6364.2012.0118.
  • Arrieta-Paredes, M.-P. (2007), "The timing of Capacity Expansion Investments in Oligopoly under Demand Uncertainty", Investment Management and Financial Innovations, Volume 4, Issue 1, pp 40-55. https://doaj.org/article/d9b4170cffb04fc7a040936577eb5f8b.

Book chapters

Arrieta-Paredes M.-P. & Cronin B. (2014). Value creation reporting and signalling for human capital and human assets: building the foundation for a multi-disciplinary multi-level theory. In A social network analysis of managerial migrations: the case of large companies in the United Kingdom (pp. 143-New York: Palgrave Macmillan, US: Palgrave Macmillan). essay Russ Meir. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137472069_6

Working Papers

  • Arrieta Paredes, Mary-Paz (2026) “Unpacking the climate change actions of SMEs in the UK: A multilevel analysis of financial drivers and operational barriers” (pre-print).
  • Althawadi, A., & Arrieta-Paredes, M.-P. (2023). SME internationalisation, financing constraints and incremental innovations: the case of the Bahrain Kingdom. In ISBE 2023 Conference Proceedings - York, UK.
  • Arrieta-Paredes, M-P, Coca-Stefaniak, A, and Hallsworth, A. (2021) “The financing of SMEs in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis: Lessons from the Eurozone” (PEGFA, Working Paper Series).
  • Van Klyton, Aaron, Arrieta Paredes, Mary-Paz and Soomaree, Ayush (2018) “The Quiet Politics of Internet governance, participatory evangelism, and the Business Stakeholder Groups- a hegemonic power perspective” (CBNA, Working Paper Series).
  • Arrieta-Paredes, Mary-Paz and Cronin, Bruce (2017) “The role of financial performance in the recruitment of executives in the UK: A network approach” (CBNA, Working Paper Series).

Presentations
  • Factors influencing SME climate action in the UK: Drivers, barriers, and policy-making implications, ISBE 2025 Glasgow Conference
  • Entrepreneurial finance, news media narratives, and productive entrepreneurship in Rwanda’s entrepreneurial ecosystem: An entrepreneurial resourcefulness perspective, Aston University Workshop, Dec 2025
  • How the intention to export affects financial and non-financial factors for small and medium enterprises in developing countries: Evidence from Rwanda pre and post COVID 19 pandemic, ISBE 2022 York Conference