The moderating effects of government funding on the relationship between public entrepreneurial factors, entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial training and performance of public universities in Pakistan

Higher Education Institutes (HEI) play a major role in the progress of any country. Therefore, improved organisational performance of HEIs leads to socio-economic development of a country. However, few studies are available that addressed the issue of low organisational performance of HEIs in the context of Pakistan. The main objective of this study is to examine the moderating effect of government funding on the relationship between public entrepreneurship factors (structural, managerial, cultural, and environmental), entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial training on innovation and organisational performance among the public universities in Pakistan. The identified issue has been addressed using quantitative approach and data has been collected from 415 heads of department from public universities in Pakistan. The data analysis was conducted using Pearson correlation and regression
analysis. The results of the analysis indicated that structural factor, managerial factor, cultural factor, entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial training on innovation significantly influenced the performance of the public universities in Pakistan. Moreover, significant moderating effects of government funding was found on the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial training on innovation and organisational
performance. On the contrary, the results could not find support for the moderating effects of government funding on the relationship between structural, managerial, cultural, environmental factors and organisational performance. The findings of this study enhanced
the understanding regarding government funding in the prospect of improving the performance of the public universities in Pakistan. The study recommends that higher education commission (HEC) in Pakistan allow room for entrepreneurial activities, development of entrepreneurial opportunities and encourage entrepreneurial practices through the development of public entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial training on innovation to generate positive effects on the organisational performance.