Halo effect of university: the reputation and technology cross-regional commercialisation in China

The relationship between halo effect and cross-regional commercialisation of technology in universities is a very important issue that has not been answered theoretically. Based on signal theory and information asymmetry theory, universities with different reputations have their scope of influence and competitive advantages, and studying the cross-regional commercialisation of technology under the political border effect is worthwhile. Given the panel data of universities directly under the Ministry of Education, the relationship between the cross-regional commercialisation of universities and their reputation is non-linear, that is, the reputation mechanism plays a prominent role after breaking the province boundary. Specifically, high-reputation universities have higher technology transfer advantages in interprovince commercialisation, whereas relatively low-reputation ones perform better in intraprovince commercialisation. Moreover, improving research quality can compensate for the disadvantage of low-reputation universities in cross-regional technology transfer, whereas government incentive policies can retain more research results from high-reputation universities locally. Our study provides theoretical guidance for the optimization and adjustment of science and technology achievement transfer policies in China, especially for promoting science and technology achievement transfer, as well as providing practical references for retaining high-quality science and technology achievements in the region.