A framework for assessing the performance of universities: The case of Cyprus

•The national and institutional context defines universities' role and performance.•Evaluation of universities should be based on the experience of diverse agents.•The government determines the performance of universities in small economies.

The teaching and research missions of universities have been broadened to include third-mission activities. While the traditional missions of teaching and research have been thoroughly examined, third-mission activities are yet to be fully understood. A one-size-fits-all model of university assessment cannot be applied to all countries. Each university operates within a national and institutional context, which defines its role and performance. This paper adopts a refined version of the triple helix model to support the argument that business, government and university contexts determine the performance of the third role of universities. Evaluation of the performance of universities should be based on the overall experience and expectations of a variety of agents operating within academia, business and government. The results of this research indicate that the government should play a constructive role in creating operating conditions and institutional structures to improve the performance of universities in small economies.