Academic reputation quality and research: an analysis of Latin-American universities in the world higher education institution rankings from the perspective of organizational learning theory

The purpose of the research is to theorise about the determinants of academic reputation and the moderating effects of aspiration performance in Latin-American universities present in three of the most important rankings in the world: The Times Higher Education, QS World University Rankings, Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). To achieve the research purpose, a time series panel is performed. Our general model trying to evaluate the effect of aspirational performance 15 on the relationship between Faculty quality (Research and Teaching) and Academic Reputation in Latin American Countries was specified. The database considered in the research includes the universities classified in the Times Higher Education ranking (THE), QS World University Rankings (QS), and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) from 20 2011 to 2022. Concerning the results, it was possible to verify that the ranking of performance in research and the ranking of performance in quality does not have a significant relationship with academic reputation. While ranking performance in quality and research according to the category of countries, a positive and robust impact was observed. 25 Similarly, it was found that the regions' moderating effect on the relationship between quality and research and its impact on the academic reputation of higher education institutions. As a general conclusion of the article, it is possible to show that regional dynamics of the location of university institutions define the strategy from which the institution's 30 performance is improved. Therefore, the importance of the influence of environmental actors on performance is identified.