Does Open Innovation Promote Innovation Efficiency in Chinese Universities?

The growing Chinese universities are implementing open innovation (OI). However, the function of OI in the innovation activities is still unclear. This article elaborates on how outbound OI (OOI) and inbound OI (IOI), which includes four types of partners [i.e., domestic research institutions, domestic higher education, domestic enterprises, and foreign institutions], influence the innovation efficiency of invention patents (IPA) and scientific papers (FPA) in the context of Chinese universities. Based on a panel dataset from 2009 to 2018 in China, we find that OOI significantly facilitates innovation efficiency of universities. IOI with DHE and FI can promote innovation efficiency in IPA and FPA, respectively. Moreover, we also investigate the moderating role of absorptive capacity in the relationship between OI and innovation efficiency. The results show some heterogeneity in the different types of OI. The study enriches the influencing factors of innovation efficiency in relation to OI and expands the research subject of OI topic. Furthermore, this article supplements the knowledge regarding the boundary conditions under which the effect of OI is strengthened or weakened.