Dr Alvaro Martinez-Perez
PhD (ISER, University of Essex), MA (IC3JM), BA (Hons) (UCM)
Department of Sociological Studies
Lecturer in International and Comparative Social Research Methods
(He/him)
+44 114 222 6489
Full contact details
Department of Sociological Studies
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
- Profile
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Alvaro joined the department in September 2015 having previously worked in research positions for the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Management School in the University. Prior to coming to the University of Sheffield, he worked as Postdoctoral Fellow (research and teaching) at the Department of Sociology of the Universitat de Barcelona between 2011 and 2012 and as Research Fellow at the Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies (IRVAPP, Fondazione Bruno Kessler) in Trento between 2009 and 2011.
He has extensive experience of working in international, interdisciplinary teams and advising policy makers (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Regional Government of the Province of Trento).
- Research interests
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Alvaro's current research interests are:
- Social stratification and inequality;
- Labour markets;
- Education;
- Family and gender;
- Migration;
- Electoral behaviour;
- Advanced multivariate methods (such as panel regression, event history analysis, multilevel analysis, multiple imputation).
Alvaro has a strong methodological focus centred in a wide range of quantitative methods used across the social sciences (sociology, political sciences and economics).
For instance, in his PhD Alvaro investigated the impact of educational homogamy in the patterns and evolution of gender inequalities in couple relationships over the course of marriage using panel methods, simultaneous equation modelling and event history analysis.
- Publications
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Books
- Un análisis del efecto de la Ley de igualdad en la representación electoral, parlamentaria y el comportamiento electoral de las mujeres en las elecciones generales de 2008. Madrid: Fundacion Alternativas. View this article in WRRO
Journal articles
- Expanding Protection Motivation Theory to explain vaccine uptake among United Kingdom and Taiwan populations. Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics.
- Beyond the formal/informal enterprise dualism : explaining the level of (in)formality of entrepreneurs. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. View this article in WRRO
- Gender divisions of domestic labour and paid domestic services. Service Industries Journal, 38(11-12), 875-895. View this article in WRRO
- Studying Real-Time Audience Responses to Political Messages: A New Research Agenda. International Journal of Communication, 12, 1696-1714. View this article in WRRO
- Informal Entrepreneurship in Developing Economies: The Impacts of Starting Up Unregistered on Firm Performance. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 41(5), 773-799. View this article in WRRO
- Determinants of the level of informality of informal micro-enterprises: some evidence from the city of Lahore, Pakistan. World Development, 84, 312-325. View this article in WRRO
- Evaluating the impacts of corruption on firm performance in developing economies: an institutional perspective. International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 16(4), 401-422. View this article in WRRO
- Does bribery have a negative impact on firm performance? a firm-level analysis across 132 developing countries. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 22(3), 398-415. View this article in WRRO
- Empobrecimiento en tiempos de crisis: vulnerabilidad y (des)protección social en un contexto de adversidad. Panorama Social, 22(2), 11-26. View this article in WRRO
- Entrepreneurship in the Informal Economy. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 15(4), 227-237. View this article in WRRO
- The role of the political context in voting indecision. Electoral Studies, 35(1), 12-23. View this article in WRRO
- Explaining cross-national variations in tax morality in the European Union: an exploratory analysis. Studies of Transition States and Societies, 6(1), 5-18.
- Evaluating the Cash-in-Hand Consumer Culture in the European Union. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 22(4), 466-482.
- Do small business start-ups test-trade in the informal economy? Evidence from a UK survey. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 22(1), 1-16. View this article in WRRO
- Why do consumers purchase goods and services in the informal economy?. Journal of Business Research, 67(5), 802-806. View this article in WRRO
- Is the informal economy an incubator for new enterprise creation? A gender perspective. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, 20(1), 4-19.
- Voting without Ideology. Evidence from Spain (1979-2008). Revista Espanola de Investigaciones Sociologicas, 129(1), 107-129.
- Religious voting in Spain and Portugal. Revista Internacional de Sociologia, 66(51), 19-54.
Chapters
- Spain: religiosity, ideology, and voting In Montero JR, Segatti P & Calvo K (Ed.), Religious Voting in Western Europe (pp. 341-378). Oxford University Press
- Nuevos derechos: la legalizacion de la eutanasia In Penades de la Cruz, Alberto & Garmendia Madariaga A (Ed.), Informe sobre la democracia en Espana 2021. El pais frente al espejo (pp. 87-105). Madrid: Fundacion Alternativas and Centro de Estudios Politicos y Constitucionales.
- Tackling the informal economy: a critical evaluation of the neo-liberal policy de-regulatory perspective In Routh S & Borghi V (Ed.), Workers and the Global Informal Economy. Interdisciplinary Perspectives (pp. 29-50). Oxford and New York: Routledge.
- Can Work-Life Balance Policies Foster Happiness Within the Family? A Comparison of Traditional Versus New Family Arrangements, Advances in Happiness Research (pp. 275-296). Springer Japan
- Devotos y votantes: el peso del factor religioso en las elecciones generales españolas In eds JRMEIL (Ed.), Elecciones Generales 2008 Madrid: Cis.
- The Social Significance of Homogamy In Brynin M & Ermisch J (Ed.), Changing Relationships (pp. 73-90). London & New York: Taylor & Francis.
- How Close are Couples? In Brynin M & Ermisch J (Ed.), Changing Relationships (pp. 91-110). London & New York: Taylor & Francis.
- Religiosidad y voto en España y Portugal (2002-2004) In Landwerlin GM & Torres C (Ed.), Sociología y Realidad Social. Libro Homenaje a Miguel Beltrán Villalva Madrid: Cis.
- Ideología, gestión gubernamental y voto en las elecciones españolas In Montero JR, Lago I & Torcal M (Ed.), Elecciones generales 2004 Cis
- Voto religioso em Portugal e em Espanha In Freire A, Lobo MC & Magalhães P (Ed.), Eleições e Cultura Política. Portugal no Contexto Europeu Lisbon: Imprensa de Ciencias Sociais.
Book reviews
- Women in and out of paid work. Changes across generations in Italy and Britain. Bristol: The Policy Press, 2009, 228 pp (by Cristina Solera). Sociologica, 2010(2), 1-4. View this article in WRRO
Reports
- Impact of labour shortages on UK food availability and safety View this article in WRRO
- British Medical Association's Cohort Study of 2006 Medical Graduates: Longitudinal Analysis of Career Trajectories View this article in WRRO
- ¿Cómo votan los que no tienen ideología?
- Family structure and work satisfaction. Can work-life balance policies foster happiness at the workplace?
Theses / Dissertations
- Couple Relationships: The Effect of Education on Gender Equality. Universite of Essex.
Working papers
- A difficult friendship: religiosity, ideology, and vote in Spain. IPSA International Conference. View this article in WRRO
- The Social Significance of Homogamy. ISER Working Papers Series, 2008/32, 1-31. View this article in WRRO
- From Religious Cleavage to Religious Voting: Contrasting Cases in Portugal and Spain. Seminario de Investigacion, 7/2007. View this article in WRRO
- Eadem sed Aliter : Religious Voting in Portugal and Spain. Working Papers del Di part iment o di st udi sociali e politici, 1/2006. View this article in WRRO
- How do voters vote when they have no ideology? Evidence from Spain. CEACS Estudio/Working Paper, 2006/227, 1-42. View this article in WRRO
- Un análisis del efecto de la Ley de igualdad en la representación electoral, parlamentaria y el comportamiento electoral de las mujeres en las elecciones generales de 2008. Madrid: Fundacion Alternativas. View this article in WRRO
- Research group
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Alvaro has co-supervised several dissertations at PhD level. He is particularly interested in supervising students who undertake quantitative work in his substantive areas of interest. Alvaro has a broad range of experience with primary data collection, secondary data analysis and advanced statistical methods.
- Teaching interests
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Alvaro currently delivers teaching on:
- SSCS2002 Varieties of Welfare (Level 2)
- SCS2000 Doing Quantitative Social Research (Level 2)
- SCS2007 Social Policy in Global Context (Level 2)
He has taught and supervised students at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Alvaro's approach to teaching is evidence- based seeking to establish linkages between his research and teaching and also using his experience on policy impact working with policy makers.
He tries to make students aware that through doing research in social sciences, while keeping a critical view on how our society works, we can make a significant contribution to the understanding and improvement of key societal challenges.