Determinants of research productivity in Chinese private universities through individual and institutional factors: A mediating role of reward-based factors

This research is aimed at analyzing research productivity determinants among Chinese universities of the private type with the emphasis put on individual, institutional and reward based determinants. In particular, the study examines the direct and indirect impacts of individual (academic qualification, research self-efficacy, time management skills, and intrinsic motivation), institutional (research support infrastructure, research funding availability, administrative workload, and research culture) and reward-based (monetary incentives, promotion and tenure policies, and recognition and awards) factors on research productivity. The paper also examines the mediation purpose of reward-related factors in the correlation between individual and institutional factors and research productivity. A quantitative research paradigm was used, and a sample size of 243 students was used in all the different universities which were in China and were in the privatize. The collection of the data was done using a structured questionnaire and was analyzed by the application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (SmartPLS) to examine the hypothesized relations. The findings have shown that individual and institutional factors play a major role in research productivity in which the reward-based factors play an intermediary. In particular, the impact of both individual and institutional factors on the research output was better under reward-based incentives and therefore showed the significance of a general support system in promoting research output. This study can be useful to the task of comprehending the research productivity of Chinese private universities providing valuable insights into the interaction of individual, institutional, and reward-based variables. The relevance of the findings to the practice of university administrators involves recommending ways of maximizing the output of research by having better support systems and reward systems.