Top management team background, university-industry collaboration, and innovation performance: a causal mediation analysis in Chinese listed firms

China has been enhancing the status of enterprises in innovation to boost its economy in recent years, and the role of the top management team (TMT) in enterprises has become increasingly prominent. Existing research has examined the influence of TMT on general innovation, whereas the effect of TMT on open innovation strategy, including university-industry collaboration (UIC), is rarely investigated. With the dataset of 2295 Chinese listed firms from 2010 to 2019, we empirically identify the relationship between TMT background (i.e. education, functional, and academic background) and UIC and examine the role of UIC in terms of the relationship between TMT background and innovation performance using causal mediation analysis. This study adds literature on the micro-level factors affecting UIC intensity and sheds light on the path following which TMT background positively affects innovation performance. Our findings also highlight practical ways for entrepreneurs and policymakers to improve UIC intensity and innovation performance in Chinese listed firms.