Journal
SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMICS
Volume 58, Issue 4, Pages 1761-1781Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11187-021-00473-w
Keywords
Equity crowdfunding; Entrepreneurial finance; Soft information; Network externalities; Platforms
Categories
Funding
- Research Infrastructure and Investment Fund at the London School of Economics
- Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics
- Leverhulme Trust
- Dean's Research Excellence Fund at UTA
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Equity crowdfunding platforms leverage network externalities and information provision to reduce transaction costs, increase accuracy in investor decisions, and ultimately boost the supply of funds to entrepreneurs.
As a digital financial innovation, equity crowdfunding (ECF) allows investors to exploit the complementarity of information provision and network effects in a reduced transaction cost environment. We build on the underlying distinction between soft and hard information and show that ECF platforms create an environment of greater information pooling that benefits from network externalities. We test our hypotheses using a unique proprietary dataset and find that soft information has a greater impact than hard on the likelihood that a financing pitch will be successful. Moreover, the effects of soft information are amplified by the size of the investor network on the platform and network size also positively moderates the effect of information on the amount invested during each pitch. We conclude that ECF platforms can successfully exploit low transaction costs of the digital environment and bring network externalities to bear on investor decisions. Taken together that these increase the supply of funds to entrepreneurs.
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