IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/techno/v155y2026ics0166497226001288.html

Academic R&D collaboration and IPO approval: The signaling effects of collaboration breadth and depth

Author

Listed:
  • Ma, Rongkang
  • Wang, Yu

Abstract

This paper examines how academic R&D collaborations influence the approval of initial public offerings (IPOs) in regulatory environments. Drawing upon signaling theory and the open innovation literature, we investigate the effects of both the breadth and depth of academic R&D collaborations on IPO approval, and how these relationships are moderated by industry-science linkages. Using data from 675 IPO applications on China's Science and Technology Innovation Board (STAR market) from 2019 to 2022, we find that academic collaboration breadth exhibits a significant negative relationship with IPO approval, while academic collaboration depth demonstrates an inverted U-shaped relationship with IPO approval. Moreover, we find that industry-science linkages moderate the relationship between academic collaboration depth and IPO approval, flattening the inverted U-shaped curve in industries with stronger science connections. However, industry-science linkages do not significantly moderate the negative relationship between academic collaboration breadth and IPO approval. This study advances our understanding of the signaling implications of academic R&D collaboration in the IPO context, offering valuable insights for high-tech companies seeking to go public.

Suggested Citation

  • Ma, Rongkang & Wang, Yu, 2026. "Academic R&D collaboration and IPO approval: The signaling effects of collaboration breadth and depth," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:techno:v:155:y:2026:i:c:s0166497226001288
    DOI: 10.1016/j.technovation.2026.103593
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166497226001288
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.technovation.2026.103593?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:techno:v:155:y:2026:i:c:s0166497226001288. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01664972 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.