How can academic innovation performance in university-industry collaboration be improved?

•A model based on the organization control perspective was tested.•Academic innovation performance of 141 Taiwanese universities was investigated.•The more UIC funding, the better academic innovation performance of universities.•The innovation climate had a moderating effect between the two examined variables.

As universities gradually become the center of society's knowledge production system, their role in innovation becomes more diverse. In the pursuit of such a role, universities are encouraged to establish a university-industry collaboration (UIC) context that supports faculties and students to engage in entrepreneurial activities. On the basis of the organizational control perspective, we investigated how UIC factors, namely implementing a formal UIC management mechanism, implementing UIC regulations, and supporting an innovative climate, influence the academic innovation performance of universities. The results of partial least squares analysis of 141 Taiwanese universities showed that UIC-subsidized universities have more advantages for developing their UIC environment and improving academic innovation performance. We found that a formal UIC management mechanism might be the most essential factor for enhancing the academic innovation performance of non-UIC-subsidized universities. Furthermore, the innovation climate was found to moderate the relationship between formal UIC management mechanisms and academic innovation performance.