IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/entthe/v39y2015i4p955-980.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Signaling in Equity Crowdfunding

Author

Listed:
  • Gerrit K.C. Ahlers
  • Douglas Cumming
  • Christina Günther
  • Denis Schweizer

Abstract

This paper presents a first–ever empirical examination of the effectiveness of signals that entrepreneurs use to induce (small) investors to commit financial resources in an equity crowdfunding context. We examine the impact of venture quality (human capital, social [alliance] capital, and intellectual capital) and uncertainty on fundraising success. Our data highlight that retaining equity and providing more detailed information about risks can be interpreted as effective signals and can therefore strongly impact the probability of funding success. Social capital and intellectual capital, by contrast, have little or no impact on funding success. We discuss the implications of our results for theory, future research, and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Gerrit K.C. Ahlers & Douglas Cumming & Christina Günther & Denis Schweizer, 2015. "Signaling in Equity Crowdfunding," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(4), pages 955-980, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:39:y:2015:i:4:p:955-980
    DOI: 10.1111/etap.12157
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/etap.12157
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/etap.12157?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Larry G. Epstein & Martin Schneider, 2008. "Ambiguity, Information Quality, and Asset Pricing," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(1), pages 197-228, February.
    2. Doms, Mark & Lewis, Ethan & Robb, Alicia, 2010. "Local labor force education, new business characteristics, and firm performance," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 61-77, January.
    3. Lowell W. Busenitz & James O. Fiet & Douglas D. Moesel, 2005. "Signaling in Venture Capitalist—New Venture Team Funding Decisions: Does it Indicate Long–Term Venture Outcomes?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(1), pages 1-12, January.
    4. Schwienbacher, Armin, 2007. "A theoretical analysis of optimal financing strategies for different types of capital-constrained entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 753-781, November.
    5. Zacharakis, Andrew L. & Meyer, G. Dale, 2000. "The potential of actuarial decision models: Can they improve the venture capital investment decision?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 323-346, July.
    6. Andy Cosh & Douglas Cumming & Alan Hughes, 2009. "Outside Enterpreneurial Capital," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(540), pages 1494-1533, October.
    7. Gordon Burtch & Anindya Ghose & Sunil Wattal, 2013. "An Empirical Examination of the Antecedents and Consequences of Contribution Patterns in Crowd-Funded Markets," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 499-519, September.
    8. Unger, Jens M. & Rauch, Andreas & Frese, Michael & Rosenbusch, Nina, 2011. "Human capital and entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytical review," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 341-358, May.
    9. Leland, Hayne E & Pyle, David H, 1977. "Informational Asymmetries, Financial Structure, and Financial Intermediation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 32(2), pages 371-387, May.
    10. Elena Cefis & Orietta Marsili, 2005. "A matter of life and death: innovation and firm survival," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 14(6), pages 1167-1192, December.
    11. Hoang, Ha & Antoncic, Bostjan, 2003. "Network-based research in entrepreneurship: A critical review," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 165-187, March.
    12. Malmendier, Ulrike & Shanthikumar, Devin, 2007. "Are small investors naive about incentives?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 457-489, August.
    13. Grossman, Sanford J, 1981. "The Informational Role of Warranties and Private Disclosure about Product Quality," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 461-483, December.
    14. Michael Spence, 2002. "Signaling in Retrospect and the Informational Structure of Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(3), pages 434-459, June.
    15. Ross, Stephen A, 1978. "Some Notes on Financial Incentive-Signalling Models, Activity Choice and Risk Preferences," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 33(3), pages 777-792, June.
    16. Uschi Backes-Gellner & Arndt Werner, 2007. "Entrepreneurial Signaling via Education: A Success Factor in Innovative Start-Ups," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 173-190, June.
    17. David Ahlstrom & Garry D. Bruton, 2006. "Venture Capital in Emerging Economies: Networks and Institutional Change," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(2), pages 299-320, March.
    18. Douglas Cumming & Sofia Johan, 2013. "Demand-driven securities regulation: evidence from crowdfunding," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 361-379, October.
    19. Magdalena Cholakova & Bart Clarysse, 2015. "Does the Possibility to Make Equity Investments in Crowdfunding Projects Crowd Out Reward–Based Investments?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(1), pages 145-172, January.
    20. Jan Brinckmann & Soeren Salomo & Hans Georg Gemuenden, 2011. "Financial Management Competence of Founding Teams and Growth of New Technology–Based Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(2), pages 217-243, March.
    21. Seungwha (Andy) Chung & Harbir Singh & Kyungmook Lee, 2000. "Complementarity, status similarity and social capital as drivers of alliance formation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 1-22, January.
    22. Davila, Antonio & Foster, George & Gupta, Mahendra, 2003. "Venture capital financing and the growth of startup firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 689-708, November.
    23. Ajay K. Agrawal & Christian Catalini & Avi Goldfarb, 2011. "The Geography of Crowdfunding," NBER Working Papers 16820, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Alicia M. Robb & David T. Robinson, 2014. "The Capital Structure Decisions of New Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 153-179, January.
    25. Steven C. Michael, 2009. "Entrepreneurial signaling to attract resources: the case of franchising," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 405-422.
    26. Mikko Jääskeläinen & Markku Maula & Tuukka Seppä, 2006. "Allocation of Attention to Portfolio Companies and the Performance of Venture Capital Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(2), pages 185-206, March.
    27. Paul R. Milgrom, 1981. "Good News and Bad News: Representation Theorems and Applications," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(2), pages 380-391, Autumn.
    28. Leon Schjoedt & Erik Monsen & Allison Pearson & Tim Barnett & James J. Chrisman, 2013. "New Venture and Family Business Teams: Understanding Team Formation, Composition, Behaviors, and Performance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(1), pages 1-15, January.
    29. Baum, Joel A. C. & Silverman, Brian S., 2004. "Picking winners or building them? Alliance, intellectual, and human capital as selection criteria in venture financing and performance of biotechnology startups," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 411-436, May.
    30. Downes, David H & Heinkel, Robert, 1982. "Signaling and the Valuation of Unseasoned New Issues," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 37(1), pages 1-10, March.
    31. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniel Czaja & Florian Röder, 2022. "Signalling in Initial Coin Offerings: The Key Role of Entrepreneurs’ Self‐efficacy and Media Presence," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 58(1), pages 24-61, March.
    2. Maximilian Goethner & Sebastian Luettig & Tobias Regner, 2021. "Crowdinvesting in entrepreneurial projects: disentangling patterns of investor behavior," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 905-926, August.
    3. Evila Piva & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, 2018. "Human capital signals and entrepreneurs’ success in equity crowdfunding," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 667-686, October.
    4. Hoenig, Daniel & Henkel, Joachim, 2015. "Quality signals? The role of patents, alliances, and team experience in venture capital financing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 1049-1064.
    5. Lennart Ante & Philipp Sandner & Ingo Fiedler, 2018. "Blockchain-Based ICOs: Pure Hype or the Dawn of a New Era of Startup Financing?," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, November.
    6. Francesco Cappa & Michele Pinelli & Riccardo Maiolini & Maria Isabella Leone, 2021. "“Pledge” me your ears! The role of narratives and narrator experience in explaining crowdfunding success," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 953-973, August.
    7. Farhad Sadeh & Manish Kacker, 2018. "Quality signaling through ex-ante voluntary information disclosure in entrepreneurial networks: evidence from franchising," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 729-748, April.
    8. Janina Sundermeier & Tyge-F. Kummer, 2022. "Does personality still matter in e-commerce? How perceived hubris influences the assessment of founders’ trustworthiness using the example of reward-based crowdfunding," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(3), pages 1127-1144, September.
    9. Simon Kleinert & Christine Volkmann & Marc Grünhagen, 2020. "Third-party signals in equity crowdfunding: the role of prior financing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 341-365, January.
    10. Daniel Blaseg & Douglas Cumming & Michael Koetter, 2021. "Equity Crowdfunding: High-Quality or Low-Quality Entrepreneurs?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(3), pages 505-530, May.
    11. Anglin, Aaron H. & Short, Jeremy C. & Drover, Will & Stevenson, Regan M. & McKenny, Aaron F. & Allison, Thomas H., 2018. "The power of positivity? The influence of positive psychological capital language on crowdfunding performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 470-492.
    12. Ciro D. Esposito & Balazs Szatmari & Jonathan M. C. Sitruk & Nachoem M. Wijnberg, 2024. "Getting off to a good start: emerging academic fields and early-stage equity financing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 1591-1613, April.
    13. Song, Yang & Berger, Ron & Yosipof, Abraham & Barnes, Bradley R., 2019. "Mining and investigating the factors influencing crowdfunding success," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    14. Taj, Saud A., 2016. "Application of signaling theory in management research: Addressing major gaps in theory," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 338-348.
    15. Thomas Clauss & Thomas Niemand & Sascha Kraus & Patrick Schnetzer & Alexander Brem, 2019. "Increasing Crowdfunding Success Through Social Media: The Importance Of Reach And Utilisation In Reward-Based Crowdfunding," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(03), pages 1-30, May.
    16. Epure, Mircea & Guasch, Martí, 2020. "Debt signaling and outside investors in early stage firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(2).
    17. Gry Agnete Alsos & Elisabet Ljunggren, 2017. "The Role of Gender in Entrepreneur–Investor Relationships: A Signaling Theory Approach," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(4), pages 567-590, July.
    18. Daniel Broxterman & Tingyu Zhou, 2023. "Information Frictions in Real Estate Markets: Recent Evidence and Issues," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 203-298, February.
    19. Klus, Milan Frederik, 2020. "From signalling to endorsement: The valorisation of fledgling digital ventures [Vom Signalisieren zur Unterstützung: Die Aufwertung junger digitaler Unternehmen]," Discussion Papers of the Institute for Organisational Economics 3/2020, University of Münster, Institute for Organisational Economics.
    20. Block, Joern H. & De Vries, Geertjan & Schumann, Jan H. & Sandner, Philipp, 2014. "Trademarks and venture capital valuation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 525-542.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:39:y:2015:i:4:p:955-980. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.