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Alan Hughes

Margaret Thatcher Professor of Enterprise Studies
Director of the Centre for Business Research (CBR)
Fellow of Sidney Sussex College

Professional experience

Alan Hughes was Director of the National Competitiveness Network of the Cambridge-MIT Institute between 2000-2003, a joint venture between Cambridge University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Hughes has also held visiting professorships in the USA, France, Australia and Japan. In 2004 he was appointed by the Prime Minister to membership of the Council for Science and Technology, the UK's senior advisory body in this area. Professor Hughes has been a Policy Advisor to the DTI, HM Treasury, the DfES and HMIR. He has served on the Advisory Panel Evaluating German Universities (Excellence Initiative). He is a member of the National Council of the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Professor Hughes has given evidence and advice to Select Committees of the House of Lords.

With his colleagues at the Centre for Business Research Professor Hughes has pioneered the development of a long-term interdisciplinary research programme into business structure organisation and performance. This programme which has attracted over £8 million worth of peer reviewed research funding has linked scholars from economics, law, engineering, geography, social and political sciences, social psychology and management studies into a long-run programme of business research. more »

Previous appointments

Alan Hughes has held visiting appointments at Doshisha Kyoto and Queensland.

Research interests

Growth innovation and financial characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises; analysis of the relationship between corporate takeover, corporate governance, executive pay and business performance; training and business performance; measurement and evaluation of science, industrial and business support policy; the relationship between law and economics in the analysis of corporate organisation and performance.

Alan Hughes is a member of the Business & Management Economics subject group.

Selected publications

Cox, M., Hughes, A. and Spires, R. (2002) Evaluation of SMART (including SPUR) 2001: final report and appendices: DTI Evaluation Report Series No.3. Sheffield: Small Business Service.

Cook, J., Deakin, S. and Hughes, A. (2002) "Mutuality and corporate governance: the evolution of UK building societies following deregulation." The Journal of Corporate Law Studies, 2(1): 110-138

Cosh, A. and Hughes, A. (eds.) (2003) Enterprise challenged: policy and performance in the British SME sector 1999-2002. Cambridge: ESRC Centre for Business Research.

Guest, P.M., Cosh, A., Hughes, A. and Conn, R.L. (2004) "Why must all good things come to an end? The performance of multiple acquirers." In Academy of Management (eds.) Creating actionable knowledge: Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings (64th), 6-11 August 2004, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. [Published on CD-ROM], pp.BPS:S1-S6

Conn, R.L., Cosh, A., Guest, P.M. and Hughes, A. (2005) "The impact on U.K. acquirers of domestic, cross-border, public and private acquisitions." Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 32(5/6): pp.815-870

Cosh, A., Guest, P. and Hughes, A. (2006) "Board share-ownership and takeover performance." Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 33(3/4): 459-510

More publications »