The role of geographical clusters in the success of reward-based crowdfunding campaigns

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 250-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carbonara Nunzia
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Entrepreneurial Ventures ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Geographical Clusters

This article studies whether some salient characteristics of the geographical area in which a crowdfunding campaign is launched affect its success. Drawing on a data set of 792 crowdfunded projects, we conduct an empirical study aimed at studying the role played by geographical clusters (GCs) in fostering the crowdfunding of new entrepreneurial ventures. The results offer insights into the phenomenon of crowdfunding and shed light on the role of GCs in the success of reward-based crowdfunding campaigns of early-stage entrepreneurial projects.

The role of geographical clusters in the success of reward-based crowdfunding campaigns

2020 ◽  
pp. 146575032091838
Author(s):  
Nunzia Carbonara
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Common People ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Entrepreneurial Ventures ◽  
Small Investors ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Geographical Clusters

Crowdfunding is a relatively new phenomenon, which disrupted the classic way to fund a venture. It consists in retrieving the capital needed to start an entrepreneurial activity drawing funds from a large base of small investors – generally common people – rather than from the traditional financial sources. Although many studies have been conducted on this topic, little focus has been put on the geography of this phenomenon. This article addresses this issue analysing whether regions characterized by the presence of geographical clusters are able to raise the probability of a successful crowdfunding campaign for projects located there. Drawing on a data set of 792 crowdfunded projects, we conduct an empirical study aimed at studying the role played by geographical clusters in fostering the crowdfunding of new entrepreneurial ventures. The results offer insights into the phenomenon of crowdfunding and shed light on the role of geographical clusters in the success of reward-based crowdfunding campaigns of early-stage entrepreneurial projects.

How Social Ventures Grow: Understanding the Role of Philanthropic Grants in Scaling Social Entrepreneurship

2020 ◽  
pp. 000765032097343
Author(s):  
Saurabh A. Lall ◽  
Jacob Park
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Debt Finance ◽  
Social Ventures

Although early-stage finance is critical to the growth of most ventures, it is even more important for social ventures as they face the challenges of balancing their social and commercial objectives. Drawing on institutional logics and signaling theory, this study uses a panel data set of 3,401 nascent social ventures to investigate the important role philanthropic grant funding plays in the organizational and financial development of social ventures. We find mixed results, with positive effects on employment and subsequent access to debt finance, but no effects on revenues and access to equity. Our findings connect these theories by suggesting philanthropic grants provide social ventures with flexibility to invest in human capital without pushing them to pursue short-term financial objectives, and that receiving a philanthropic grant provides a signal that is interpreted differently by debt and equity financiers. These findings are especially relevant as funders increasingly use grants to support social entrepreneurship.

Unemployment outflows: the relevance of gender and marital status in Italy and Spain

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 594-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Mussida ◽  
Enrico Fabrizi
Keyword(s):  
Marital Status ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
International Comparisons ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Labour Mobility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Status Differences ◽  
Shed Light

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to shed light on transitions from the state of unemployment to that of employment and of inactivity in Italy and Spain. Design/methodology/approach – First, the paper investigates the determinants of unemployment outflows in these two Mediterranean labour markets. Then, the paper examines discrepancies and similarities between specific outflow determinants, especially the interactions between gender and marital status, by comparing results obtained across countries. Findings – The findings of the paper suggest that gender and marital status influence the probability of unemployment outflows in both countries, although not in the same way, especially with reference to marital status. Discrepancies also emerge in relation to the role of geographical area of residence. Originality/value – International comparisons of unemployment outflows are rather new in the literature, and as far as we know none have been performed using European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions data. Further, although studies quite often examine the issue of gender-related labour mobility using the European Community Household Panel survey that took place in the 1990s (Arulampalam et al., 2007; Garcia Pérez and Rebollo Sanz, 2005; Theodossiou and Zangelidis, 2009), one of the main contributions of this paper is that it provides a systematic examination of the issue, considering the influence of gender and marital status differences on patterns of unemployment outflows to employment and inactivity.

scholarly journals Biophysical principles of choanoflagellate self-organization

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben T. Larson ◽  
Teresa Ruiz-Herrero ◽  
Stacey Lee ◽  
Sanjay Kumar ◽  
L. Mahadevan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Extracellular Matrix ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Proliferating Cells ◽  
Cell Lineages ◽  
Biophysical Processes ◽  
Salpingoeca Rosetta ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractInspired by the patterns of multicellularity in choanoflagellates, the closest living relatives of animals, we quantify the biophysical processes underlying the morphogenesis of rosette colonies in the choanoflagellateSalpingoeca rosetta. We find that rosettes reproducibly transition from an early stage of 2D growth to a later stage of 3D growth, despite the underlying stochasticity of the cell lineages. We postulate that the extracellular matrix (ECM) exerts a physical constraint on the packing of proliferating cells, thereby sculpting rosette morphogenesis. Our perturbative experiments coupled with biophysical simulations demonstrates the fundamental importance of a basally-secreted ECM for rosette morphogenesis. In addition, this yields a morphospace for the shapes of these multicellular colonies, consistent with observations of a range of choanoflagellates. Overall, our biophysical perspective on rosette development complements previous genetic perspectives and thus helps illuminate the interplay between cell biology and physics in regulating morphogenesis.Significance statementComparisons among animals and their closest living relatives, the choanoflagellates, have begun to shed light on the origin of animal multicellularity and development. Here we complement previous genetic perspectives on this process by focusing on the biophysical principles underlying colony morphology and morphogenesis. Our study reveals the crucial role of the extracellular matrix in shaping the colonies and leads to a phase diagram that delineates the range of morphologies as a function of the biophysical mechanisms at play.

scholarly journals Benefits of music education to previously disadvantaged South African learners: Perspectives of music teachers in the greater Tshwane Metropolis

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-65
Author(s):  
Inette Swart
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
South African ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Music Programs ◽  
Academic Improvement ◽  
The Government ◽  
Shed Light

This article focuses on the role of access to music education as an agent of social change and as an important way of empowering previously disadvantaged learners, putting this forward as an argument against the proposed downscaling of music in schools as advocated by the government. This narrative inquiry shed light on the perceptions of participating teachers associated with various music programs in the same larger geographical area on the benefits of music education to learners, including instilling discipline and a sense of purpose, general academic improvement, opportunities for social connection, creating opportunities for income generation and future employment, providing role models for children who often came from broken families, and safety and keeping children off the streets, to name but a few. Innovations necessitated by resource allocation constraints are perceived by participating teachers to include sharing a limited number of instruments, teaching in groups, converting general facilities into teaching venues and finding creative ways of teaching theory. The sustainability of these programs is perceived by participating teachers to depend on feeder programs, former students qualifying as teachers, and support and donations from one or more outside sources. It is argued that it is necessary to heed the voices of previously disadvantaged people who are now benefiting from improved access to opportunities and to listen to their opinions about the advantages of music education.

scholarly journals How lead investors build trust in the specific context of a campaign

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Interpersonal Trust ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Relational Trust ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Extreme Risk

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of trust in the unobservable decision-making process of lead investors and follow-on investors in the specific context of equity crowdfunding (ECF) campaigns. Design/methodology/approach This work employs a case study approach. The author conducts a three-year inductive field study of Chinese ECF – AngelCrunch. The author gathered both campaign and platform-level data from the selected case covering a period of seven years from 2011 to 2018. The data set used for this study includes the characteristics of 189 online campaigns, 25 face-to-face interviews with the platform managers, early-stage investors and entrepreneurs, first-hand observations and quarterly reports on online campaigns supplemented with informal interviews with the authors for the reports. Findings The findings from this study provide early insights onto the unobservable decision-making process of ECF investors. It demonstrates that lead investors use both selective signalling information and physical interactions with the entrepreneurs to build competence and relational trust on which they rely for making an early pledge. It also shows that follow-on investors differ from lead investors in the process of building trust for decision-making. Furthermore, this work uncovers the role of ECF platforms in facilitating the process of building interpersonal trust for the decision making, with challenges to maintain the notion of platforms in raising a small amount of capital from a large crowd. Research limitations/implications This study is constrained by the limited scale of qualitative elements available. The findings of the study have implications for platform managers, investors and policy makers. Originality/value Building on entrepreneurial finance and trust theory, this work demonstrates how lead investors build competence and relational trust on which they rely to make an early pledge in the context of ECF. The perception of a lead investor and the commitment together with the selective and formative information by the entrepreneur/s are key in follow-on investors’ decision making. This study uncovers that crowdfunding enables additional and valuable information to be assessed by crowd investors to manage extreme risk and uncertainty occurred in early-stage investments. This work also demonstrates that virtual world has its limitations to build interpersonal trust for managing extreme risk.

Exploring the dynamic influences and interaction effects of signals on backers’ investment in the crowdfunding market

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 792-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Song ◽  
Hong Wu ◽  
Jingdong Ma ◽  
Naiji Lu
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Substitution Effect ◽  
Interaction Effects ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Funding Cycle ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Shed Light

Purpose As a standard source of capital for entrepreneurs, crowdfunding has recently gained wide attention in business and academia. With scientific endorsement, some research is conducted to explore the antecedents of online crowdfunding success. The factors that can influence the backers’ investment which is the key to success are information from prior backers’ and creators’ behaviors. Based on the signaling theory, the purpose of this paper is to systematically investigate the dynamic influences and interaction effects of signals with different forms (action-based or opinion-based signals) and sources (creator-sourced or backer-sourced signals) on backers’ investment behaviors over a project-funding cycle. Design/methodology/approach A panel data set of 3,010 projects with 640,625 transaction records from April 28, 2013 to September 31, 2017 is collected from a famous online crowdfunding platform – Zhongchou.cn in China and the negative binomial panel data model with fixed effect is used to obtain our empirical results. Findings The findings demonstrate that the work of different signals is significantly effective at the early stage of a project and decreases with time. Furthermore, our results show that there are both synergistic effect and substitution effect among different signals. Specifically, the direction of interaction effect depends on the forms of signals and the backers’ sensitivity toward that signal, and the interaction effects are also dynamic. Originality/value This paper has shed light on the roles of different signal types and their interactions in influencing funding behavior over a project-funding cycle, enriched the literature on crowdfunding and provided both theoretical and practical implications.

Factors influencing the fund raising process for innovative new ventures: an empirical study

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Talaia ◽  
Alessia Pisoni ◽  
Alberto Onetti
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Causal Relation ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
New Ventures ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Fund Raising ◽  
Tobit Regression ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that influence the fund raising ability of innovative new ventures/startups. Design/methodology/approach – The authors investigate a data set composed of 108 Italian innovative new ventures. Specifically, the authors run a Tobit regression model linking the amount of equity raised by the company to the human capital of the company. The authors focussed the analysis on the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the new company, who usually is a founder and, in the early stages, the most charismatic figure. Findings – The analysis shows a significant relationship between the ability of a startup to raise funds and the level of education of the CEO. The findings suggest that this causal relation is even stronger as the CEO holds an MBA. Research limitations/implications – The results of our empirical study provide further insights about the characteristics of the CEO that mostly impact on fund raising ability of the new ventures. The results are limited to startups founded by Italian entrepreneurs. A cross-country comparison will represent the natural prosecution of our research. Practical implications – The study provides important implications for researchers and practitioners who are interested in understanding the fundamentals of the fund raising process for innovative startups. Moreover, these findings may also be helpful for policy makers in better understanding the factors potentially influencing the Italian startup ecosystem. Originality/value – The paper sheds light on the factors affecting the fund raising process of innovative new ventures in the early stage of the company’s life cycle. Specifically, it is one of the few study focussing on the profile/background of the CEO in early-stage companies.

scholarly journals Public Organisations as News Producers

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (s2) ◽  
pp. 85-100
Author(s):  
Maria Grafström ◽  
Hanna Sofia Rehnberg
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Area ◽  
County Council ◽  
Digital News ◽  
Public Organisation ◽  
The Media ◽  
News Outlet ◽  
Public Organisations ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract The purpose of this article is to shed light on a new phenomenon in the media landscape, namely public organisations taking on the role of news producers. The analysis focuses on the digital news site VGRfokus, which is run by the Swedish county council Region Västra Götaland (VGR). The articulated goal of VGRfocus is to fill a perceived news gap in the county. Using previous literature on hyperlocal media as a lens for the analysis, we discuss how a regional news outlet produced by a public organisation can be characterised and understood. Based on our case study, we show that, while VGRfokus partly resembles other newcomers, it also has features that make it a very special news producer. This distinctiveness relates in particular to the fact that VGRfokus is part of a large, public organisation and holds ambitions to promote the work of the county council and represent its geographical area. This places issues concerning trustworthiness and credibility at the centre of the discussion and raises questions about democratic implications.

scholarly journals The Emergence of Meaning From Meaningful Moments in Life

2020 ◽  
pp. 002216782096777
Author(s):  
Jacky van de Goor ◽  
Anneke M. Sools ◽  
Gerben J. Westerhof
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Meaning Creation ◽  
Letting Go ◽  
Self Transcendence ◽  
Existing Data ◽  
The Way

Meaningful moments are specific events in life that are felt to be of great value and significance. This empirical study presents a framework on the way a sense of meaning emerges from these moments. Out of an existing data set of narratives of meaningful moments, a purposeful sample of nine narratives was chosen from different participants, all middle-aged, higher educated, and with an interest or profession in personal development. Interviews were conducted about the way these moments were experienced to be meaningful. A holistic content analysis led to the distinction of five main themes in the process of meaning emergence. The study showed how meaning discovery may lead to meaning creation, which in turn may lead to retrospective meaning discovery. Results highlighted the crucial role of the awareness of contrasts and letting go. Finally, the study showed a variety of ways in which meaningful moments have a lasting impact on life. The value of the developed framework lies in its focus on meaning as a process, integrating the concepts of coherence, purpose, significance and self-transcendence, and illustrating how meaning emerges through forward acts and discoveries as well as in retrospect.

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