About
Dr Andrew Smith is an Associate Professor in Responsible Management at the Department of Management, Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham. He joined the university in 2023, bringing extensive academic experience from previous positions at the University of Liverpool Management School and Laurentian University. He holds a PhD from the University of Western Ontario and an MA from the same institution, with a BA Hons from Queen’s University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of London.
His research interests lie at the intersection of business history, institutional economics, and responsible management. He investigates how formal and informal institutions shape ethical business practices, with a focus on modern slavery, rent-seeking, corporate social legacy, and the historical defense of stigmatized industries. Drawing on theorists such as Elinor Ostrom, Oliver Williamson, Michel Foucault, and Gordon Tullock, his work combines macro, meso, and micro-level analyses to understand the foundations of free, prosperous, and just societies.
His recent publications reveal a strong trend in historical and ethical analysis of business practices, particularly around modern slavery, corporate rhetoric, and institutional evolution. He frequently publishes in top journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Management Studies, Business History, and Journal of Business Ethics. His methodological expertise includes process-tracing and historical narrative analysis.
- British Academy/Leverhulme Research Grant
- Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Research Grant
Dr Smith has served as an expert witness in a constitutional court case with significant business implications and actively engages in impact and consultancy work with non-academic organizations, including companies, charities, and government agencies. He currently supervises PhD student Diana Madibekova, whose research explores the business-peace relationship through interviews in Istanbul.
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