Institutional enablers of school–university partnership sustainability: comparative evidence from European and transition economy contexts

Purpose This study aims to examine the relationship between institutional quality indicators – management effectiveness, rule of law, and regulatory quality – and the intensity of school–university partnership (SUP) collaboration across Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, and to compare how this relationship differs between Western Europe and transition economies. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a cross-sectional comparative design covering 29 OECD countries. The SUP Collaboration Intensity Index, constructed from the Teaching and Learning International Survey 2024 scale scores, was used as the dependent variable. Independent variables were obtained from the World Bank World Governance Indicators (WGI, 2023). The analyses included ordinary least squares regression with heteroskedasticity-resistant standard errors (HC3), the Mann-Whitney U test, and bootstrap confidence intervals. Findings Regulatory quality was the only statistically significant predictor of SUP cooperation intensity (ß = 0.012, p = 0.033, R2 = 0.093). Management efficiency and rule of law remain in the expected direction but below the statistical threshold. The difference in institutional capacity between Western Europe and transition economies has been documented with a large effect size (Cohen's d = 1.297, p = 0.010). Transition economies are not homogeneous; with the effect of European Union membership, Estonia and Lithuania are converging toward the Western European pattern, exhibiting minimal institutional barriers. Originality/value This study is among those that apply mechanisms from institutional theory to the SUP sustainability literature, using a systematic, comparative, empirical design in the context of transition economies. It provides the first international comparative evidence documenting that regulatory quality is the primary institutional driver operating through compelling isomorphism.