I am a lecturer in Business Economics at the University of Bath School of Management and a member of the Centre for Governance, Regulation and Industrial Strategy. While I have a teaching-focused role, I manage to carve out some time for research, with an interest in regulation and micro-firms. This was the focus of my PhD, investigated through the aspects of knowledge, performance, and compliance. Rather than duplicate text, everything relating to my PhD study, including the resulting papers, can be found on my dedicated PhD website. I also have a growing interest in pedagogical research with an aim to enhance my teaching ability.
These topics interest me, in part, because of the 'family business', which is a small caravan park in the south west of England. This gives me a unique insight into regulatory issues and the mindset of owner-managers (for they are often one and the same) in micro-firms. This also contributes to my belief that as micro-firms make up 96% of all UK firms (BEIS, 2021, but the numbers are always around this), they should be given greater emphasis when developing regulation and considering economic issues, something my research contributes towards.
I have also worked on a number of other research projects, at various levels - from 'on the ground' data collection to secondary data analysis and co-authoring - all in different subject areas. In addition, I have peer-reviewed a number of papers and I am open to invitations for more.
This website acts as a hub for my research profile and I'll be keeping it up to date with the latest information. You may be wondering about the domain name. It's something short and sweet, with a historical meaning for me, and something I've been using for various projects for years. You might also have noticed (or will notice when you scroll down), a lack of social media links. I'm a great believer in focusing on your strengths and not duplicating information (which is why I link to my PhD website, rather than talk about it here). With my present workload (research, family business, and other projects), I just don't have the time to dedicate to getting social media right and there's no point in me having a Facebook or Twitter account with no reach. So, visit this page for the always up to date information on my work and my PhD research output, and scroll down to get in contact.
Betton, M. E. and Branston, J. R. (2022), Seminar attendance, lecture capture, and disability adjustments: intuition and evidence. Advances in Economics Education. 1(1), pp.95-115. doi:10.4337/aee.2022.01.06. Click here for more information on this paper.
Betton, M. E., Branston, J. R. and Tomlinson, P. R. (2022), Perceived regulatory compliance in micro-firms: The case of English accommodation providers. Journal of General Management. doi:10.1177/03063070221100319. Click here for more information on this paper.
Betton, M. E., Branston, J. R., and Tomlinson, P. R. (2020), "Trade-Association Endorsements, Postal & Online Responses, and Other Factors Affecting Response Rates: Reflections on a Survey of Micro-Firms". The Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 18(1), pp.39-52, available online at www.ejbrm.com. doi:10.34190/JBRM.18.1.004. Click here for more information on this paper.
Tomlinson, PR; Fai, F; Betton, M. (2020), "SETsquared: Current and Future Opportunities". This was a university consultancy contract on which I was a research assistant. Click here to download the main report or here to download the marketing report.
Betton, M. E., Branston, J. R. and Tomlinson, P. R. (2020), "Owner-Manager Perceptions of Regulation and Micro-Firm Performance: An Exploratory View". Competition & Change. doi:10.1177/1024529420926082. Click here for more information on this paper.
Betton, M. E., Branston, J. R. and Tomlinson, P. R. (2018), "Why small businesses really do struggle to understand red tape". The Conversation. Click here to view.
Betton, M. E., Branston, J. R. and Tomlinson, P. R. (2019), "Managerial Hubris, Trade Associations and Regulatory Knowledge in Micro-Firms". British Journal of Management. 30:888-907. doi:10.1111/1467-8551.12314. Click here for more information on this paper.
Betton, M. E. (2018), "The Impact of Regulation on Micro-Firms". My PhD thesis, available from: The University of Bath's research repository, or EThOS at the British Library.
Fai, F; Tomlinson, PR; Panogiotides, ACB; Betton, M. (2016), "IAAPS: Building Bridges with Small and Medium Sized Firms". This was a university consultancy contract on which I was a research assistant. Click here to download the report.
Betton, M and Tomlinson, PR. (2015), "The business and social case for investment in a new junction from the M4 near Emersons Green". Gateway2Growth, Presented at the House of Commons, 16th September 2015. This was a consultancy contract on which I was co-investigator, with funding of £25,600. Click here to download the report.
While this page acts as a hub for my work, there are plenty of places to find me online.
My University of Bath research profile.
My ORCiD profile.
My Google Scholar profile.
Bizsurvey.org, the website dedicated to my PhD research, including information about the study and all of the papers/research output resulting from it.
My Publons profile, which details my peer review activity. I am open for peer-review invitations, just get in touch.
If you want to get in contact for any reason, you can use my University of Bath email address: m.betton@bath.ac.uk.
You can also call me on 01225 807 123. It will go to an answerphone, so leave a message and I'll get back to you.