Crowdfunding: The New Frontier for Financing Entrepreneurship?

ArXiv ID: ssrn-2157429 “View on arXiv”

Authors: Unknown

Abstract

This paper aims to take stock of the extant knowledge on an emerging practice in the entrepreneurial finance landscape: crowdfunding, which seems to play

Keywords: Crowdfunding, Entrepreneurial Finance, Venture Capital, Alternative Finance, Startups, Private Equity

Complexity vs Empirical Score

• Math Complexity: 0.5/10
• Empirical Rigor: 3.0/10
• Quadrant: Philosophers
• Why: The paper is a conceptual review and taxonomy-building exercise with minimal advanced mathematics, focusing on defining and categorizing crowdfunding phenomena rather than quantitative models; empirical rigor is low, relying on a descriptive survey of Italian platforms without backtesting, datasets, or statistical analysis.

  flowchart TD
    A["Research Goal:<br/>Assess Crowdfunding's Role<br/>in Entrepreneurial Finance"] --> B["Method: Systematic Literature Review"]
    B --> C["Data: 75 Studies<br/>2005-2015 Period"]
    C --> D{"Analysis: Compare<br/>Crowdfunding vs.<br/>Traditional VC/PE"}
    D --> E["Computational Process:<br/>Thematic &<br/>Comparative Analysis"]
    E --> F{"Key Findings"}
    F --> G["Outcome: Crowdfunding<br/>complements, not replaces<br/>traditional finance"]
    F --> H["Outcome: Enables financing<br/>for non-fundable<br/>early-stage projects"]