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  • 2015
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Crowdfunding as 'Donations': Theory & Evidence

By: Kevin J. Boudreau, Lars Bo Jeppesen, Toke Reichstein and Francesco Rullani
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:37
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Abstract

For a wide class of crowdfunding approaches, we argue that the reward structure (for funders) is closer to that of charitable donations to public goods than it is to traditional entrepreneurial finance. Many features of the design of crowdfunding platforms can therefore be understood as attempts to deal with attendant "free-rider" problems in motivating contributions. Reviewing institutional features of today's crowdfunding, we clarify that there are often limits in the extent to which tangible rewards can be used to motivate contributions. Drawing on analogies with charitable donations, we theorize that intangible sources of motivation—(i) direct psychological rewards, (ii) reciprocity and (iii) social interactions—can play a role in entrepreneurial crowdfunding. In our detailed empirical analysis of a representative project we find abundant evidence consistent with this characterization and we proceed to discuss implications for platform design and entrepreneurial funding and unique and defining characteristics of crowdfunding.

Keywords

Crowdfunding Platforms; Entrepreneurial Finance; Free-riding; Voluntary Contributions To Public Goods; Online Technology; Entrepreneurship; Social and Collaborative Networks; Finance; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

Citation

Boudreau, Kevin J., Lars Bo Jeppesen, Toke Reichstein, and Francesco Rullani. "Crowdfunding as 'Donations': Theory & Evidence." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-038, September 2015.
  • SSRN
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More from the Authors

    • October 2016
    • Management Science

    Looking Across and Looking Beyond the Knowledge Frontier: Intellectual Distance and Resource Allocation in Science

    By: Kevin J. Boudreau, Eva Guinan, Karim R. Lakhani and Christoph Riedl
    • 2016
    • Faculty Research

    Innovation Experiments: Researching Technical Advance, Knowledge Production and the Design of Supporting Institutions

    By: Kevin J. Boudreau and Karim R. Lakhani
    • 2016
    • Faculty Research

    Notes on Developing a Strategy and Designing a Company

    By: Kevin J. Boudreau
More from the Authors
  • Looking Across and Looking Beyond the Knowledge Frontier: Intellectual Distance and Resource Allocation in Science By: Kevin J. Boudreau, Eva Guinan, Karim R. Lakhani and Christoph Riedl
  • Innovation Experiments: Researching Technical Advance, Knowledge Production and the Design of Supporting Institutions By: Kevin J. Boudreau and Karim R. Lakhani
  • Notes on Developing a Strategy and Designing a Company By: Kevin J. Boudreau
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