Dr María Sol Parrales López is an LSE Fellow in International Political Economy, in the Department of International Relations at LSE.
Her current project is multidisciplinary, offering a critical analysis of the reshape of business power formation and business-state relations as a result of institutional, social and political changes in developing countries.
Drawing on a qualitative approach, she employs a combination of Social Network Analysis and Analytic Narratives, including a forensic study of the economic and legal ownership structure of business elites for 200 years and 40 open-ended interviews with business groups executives, legislators, business associations and government officials, to explain the changes of business and states power relations during leftist governments in Ecuador. Her research developed a dynamic framework that shows how institutional changes undertook during hostile governments caused a reshape in the power of elites with significant economic and political influence in the countries and triggered the adoption of diverse tactics and alliances that resulted in economic and political benefits to businesses and to the leftist governments. It also showcases policy implications of business power in the states and a framework of analysis that can be applied to developing economies.
Prior to LSE, Dr Parrales López was a Departmental Lecturer in Business and Society at Queen Mary University of London. She was also an Associate Lecturer in International Development at King’s College London and a Lecturer in International Business at Universidad Catolica in Ecuador. María Sol has taught courses on Development Studies, Multinational Enterprises, Global Value Chains and Local Development, Economic Development, International Finance, and the Political Economy of Emerging Markets.
Dr Parrales López obtained her PhD in Political Economy of Development at King’s College London. She also holds a Master’s degree in International Studies, Development and Cooperation from Korea University funded by Koica and a BA in International Business Administration from Universidad Catolica of Ecuador.
Not available to supervise MPhil/PhD students.
Research Centre affiliations
- LSE Latin America Research Group
- LSE International Inequalities
- Department of International Development at King’s College London
Expertise details
Political Economy of State-Business Relations systematically intersecting business power, preferences, and resilience in contentious scenarios. Her research contributes to scholarship that seeks to answer the perennial question of how businesses get what they want in the political arena.