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Being a prestigious institution depends on gaining respect in the eyes of various stakeholders with diverse expectations. Existing research is silent on how university characteristics affect judgments of prestige and, therefore, presents an incomplete picture of prestige dynamics in higher education. This paper aims to fill this gap in the literature by empirically examining the stakeholders’ evaluation of university characteristics in terms of prestige value.

The entire population of universities (public and private) in Turkish higher education constitutes the sample of the study. The analytic hierarchy process technique is applied to ascertain how stakeholders prioritize university characteristics in terms of prestige value, and regression analysis is used to determine the effects of these characteristics on university selectivity.

The findings suggest a novel conceptual model of university prestige, which establishes its multilayered and fragmented nature. Accordingly, universities may be subject to multiple prestige hierarchies based on universal or context-specific criteria, in the eyes of various stakeholders, and based on different markers of success.

The empirical analyses are limited to the stakeholder groups that are key to university outcomes in Turkish higher education, and to selectivity in admissions as the only visible marker of success in this context.

The study enhances existing literature that posits that universities are subject to a single prestige hierarchy based on common metrics of performance. It illustrates the uneven landscape in which university prestige evolves by developing a wider and deeper focus on university characteristics.

This study proposes a portfolio of new venture signals that are likely to attract investors' attention in the context of an emerging market and examines how they work in combination to affect the likelihood of obtaining funding.

The authors use data on early-stage venture capital investments for high-tech start-ups in Turkey. The authors adopt a configurational approach and use fuzzy QCA and regression analysis.

The findings suggest that financing of new ventures in an emerging economy is shaped by signals of context-specific capabilities that are required to survive and thrive in this market environment alongside and in interaction with signals of general capabilities required for business success. Different combinations of these signals provide equifinal pathways to obtain funding. Furthermore, signals that differ in type and content interact in complex ways to affect investors' decisions.

The findings suggest that entrepreneurs with no prior experience in the emerging market context can increase their chances of obtaining funding by affiliating with a venture development organization. Another promising strategy is to form a founding team that includes members affiliated with a developed country together with members who have emerging market experience. Finally, entrepreneurs may consider combining signals of context-specific capabilities with signals of general capabilities as they work in a complementary way to attract funding.

This study addresses two major shortcomings of the literature on new venture signaling, first, by positing the emerging market context as a unique signaling environment and, second, by demonstrating the value of considering signals as portfolios with potential interdependencies.