Institutional Factors Influencing the Quality of Business Education Research Output in Nigerian Universities: A Mixed-Methods Longitudinal Study

This study conducted a longitudinal investigation of the institutional factors influencing the quality of Business Education research output in Nigerian universities over a ten-year period from 2014 to 2024. Research output quality, assessed through publication metrics, citation impact, and knowledge application, is a fundamental indicator of academic institutional quality and national intellectual capital. Despite a growing number of Business Education faculty members in Nigerian universities, per-capita publication rates and international citation impact remain low, suggesting systemic institutional barriers that warrant rigorous longitudinal investigation. Grounded in the Institutional Theory, the Resource Dependence Theory, and Boyer Scholarship Framework, a concurrent mixed-methods design was adopted. Bibliometric analysis of publication records from forty universities across all geopolitical zones was combined with a structured survey of 600 Business Education faculty and forty in-depth interviews with senior academics and research administrators. Longitudinal regression analysis, thematic analysis, and document analysis were used. Findings reveal that research funding adequacy, institutional research culture, postgraduate supervision quality, and international collaboration networks are the strongest longitudinal predictors of research output quality. Institutions that established dedicated Business Education research centers demonstrated three times higher quality output compared to those without. The study provides an original longitudinal evidence base for Business Education research policy in Nigeria and recommends a national research excellence initiative targeting Business Education departments in underperforming institutions. Keywords: research output quality, business education, institutional factors, longitudinal study, Nigerian universities