Evaluation of regional university technology transfer performance in China based on super-efficiency SBM

Improving university technology transfer (UTT) performance is important for establishing national innovation and technology transfer systems given China's pursuit of an innovation-driven development strategy. Based on Chinese provincial and regional panel data from 2011 to 2015, this study employs the super-efficiency slacks-based measure (SBM) model to determine regional UTT efficiency and details a correlation analysis of several factors influencing regional UTT. There was a significant gap between the UTT performances of different regions. Most provinces' annual UTT was inefficient; that is, there was slack in input, output, or both. There was also a positive correlation between regional UTT performance and R&D investment intensity, the number of universities, and their location in the eastern region. Finally, suggestions are proposed to optimise a UTT-performance mechanism at the university, regional, and inter-regional levels.