IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/mgtdec/v42y2021i4p836-849.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Lead investors and information disclosure: A test of signaling theory by fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis approach

Author

Listed:
  • Yaokuang Li
  • Li Ling
  • Daru Zhang
  • Juan Wu

Abstract

This article aims to examine the complexity of lead investor's signaling by information disclosure in equity crowdfunding. We use 40 samples from a Chinese equity crowdfunding source to explore why lead investor influences followers' decision making and how lead investor signals effectively by using fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) approach. Our findings enrich the literature on the lead investors and syndicate by testing the complexity of signaling in equity crowdfunding, shed new light on investigating the decision‐making model of individuals at a disadvantage of information asymmetry, and offer insights into signaling strategically online.

Suggested Citation

  • Yaokuang Li & Li Ling & Daru Zhang & Juan Wu, 2021. "Lead investors and information disclosure: A test of signaling theory by fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis approach," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(4), pages 836-849, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:42:y:2021:i:4:p:836-849
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.3276
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.3276
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/mde.3276?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. 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.
    2. Parker, Simon C., 2014. "Crowdfunding, cascades and informed investors," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 125(3), pages 432-435.
    3. Yaokuang Li & Shuoyuan Jiang & Dan Long & Huidao Tang & Juan Wu, 2014. "An exploratory study of business angels in China: a research note," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 69-83, January.
    4. 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.
    5. Johnson, Michael A. & Stevenson, Regan M. & Letwin, Chaim R., 2018. "A woman's place is in the… startup! Crowdfunder judgments, implicit bias, and the stereotype content model," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 813-831.
    6. Steven N. Kaplan & Antoinette Schoar, 2005. "Private Equity Performance: Returns, Persistence, and Capital Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(4), pages 1791-1823, August.
    7. Xuechun Li & Yuehuan Tang & Ningrui Yang & Ruiyao Ren & Haichao Zheng & Haibo Zhou, 2016. "The value of information disclosure and lead investor in equity-based crowdfunding," Nankai Business Review International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(3), pages 301-321, August.
    8. Christian Hopp & Christian Lukas, 2014. "A Signaling Perspective on Partner Selection in Venture Capital Syndicates," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(3), pages 635-670, May.
    9. Casamatta, Catherine & Haritchabalet, Carole, 2007. "Experience, screening and syndication in venture capital investments," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 368-398, July.
    10. Bikhchandani, Sushil & Hirshleifer, David & Welch, Ivo, 1992. "A Theory of Fads, Fashion, Custom, and Cultural Change in Informational Cascades," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(5), pages 992-1026, October.
    11. Martin R Schneider & Conrad Schulze-Bentrop & Mihai Paunescu, 2010. "Mapping the institutional capital of high-tech firms: A fuzzy-set analysis of capitalist variety and export performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(2), pages 246-266, February.
    12. Gorman, Michael & Sahlman, William A., 1989. "What do venture capitalists do?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 231-248, July.
    13. Oyemomi, Oluwafemi & Liu, Shaofeng & Neaga, Irina & Chen, Huilan & Nakpodia, Franklin, 2019. "How cultural impact on knowledge sharing contributes to organizational performance: Using the fsQCA approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 313-319.
    14. Friedemann Polzin & Helen Toxopeus & Erik Stam, 2018. "The wisdom of the crowd in funding: information heterogeneity and social networks of crowdfunders," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 251-273, February.
    15. 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.
    16. Chang, Man-Ling & Cheng, Cheng-Feng, 2014. "How balance theory explains high-tech professionals' solutions of enhancing job satisfaction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 2008-2018.
    17. Ragin, Charles C., 2006. "Set Relations in Social Research: Evaluating Their Consistency and Coverage," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 291-310, July.
    18. Colombo, Massimo G. & Meoli, Michele & Vismara, Silvio, 2019. "Signaling in science-based IPOs: The combined effect of affiliation with prestigious universities, underwriters, and venture capitalists," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 141-177.
    19. Stuart, Robert W. & Abetti, Pier A., 1990. "Impact of entrepreneurial and management experience on early performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 151-162, May.
    20. Anil K. Gupta & Vijay Govindarajan & Ayesha Malhotra, 1999. "Feedback‐seeking behavior within multinational corporations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 205-222, March.
    21. Theodore A. Khoury & Marc Junkunc & David L. Deeds, 2013. "The Social Construction of Legitimacy through Signaling Social Capital: Exploring the Conditional Value of Alliances and Underwriters at IPO," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(3), pages 569-601, May.
    22. Lockett, Andy & Wright, Mike, 2001. "The syndication of venture capital investments," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 375-390, October.
    23. Srivastava, Joydeep, 2001. "The Role of Inferences in Sequential Bargaining with One-Sided Incomplete Information: Some Experimental Evidence," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 166-187, May.
    24. Massimo G. Colombo & Chiara Franzoni & Cristina Rossi–Lamastra, 2015. "Internal Social Capital and the Attraction of Early Contributions in Crowdfunding," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(1), pages 75-100, January.
    25. Donal Crilly, 2011. "Predicting stakeholder orientation in the multinational enterprise: A mid-range theory," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(5), pages 694-717, June.
    26. Aguilera-Caracuel, Javier & Fedriani, Eugenio M. & Delgado-Márquez, Blanca L., 2014. "Institutional distance among country influences and environmental performance standardization in multinational enterprises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 2385-2392.
    27. Tyzoon T. Tyebjee & Albert V. Bruno, 1984. "A Model of Venture Capitalist Investment Activity," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(9), pages 1051-1066, September.
    28. Liang Chen & Zihong Huang & De Liu, 2016. "Pure and hybrid crowds in crowdfunding markets," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 2(1), pages 1-18, December.
    29. Daniel Kaimann & Joe Cox, 2014. "The Interaction of Signals: A Fuzzy set Analysis of the Video Game Industry," Working Papers Dissertations 13, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    30. Arya, Anil & Mittendorf, Brian, 2005. "Using disclosure to influence herd behavior and alter competition," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-3), pages 231-246, December.
    31. Sophie Manigart & Andy Lockett & Miguel Meuleman & Mike Wright & Hans Landström & Hans Bruining & Philippe Desbrières & Ulrich Hommel, 2006. "Venture Capitalists' Decision to Syndicate," Post-Print halshs-00078062, HAL.
    32. Silvio Vismara, 2018. "Information Cascades among Investors in Equity Crowdfunding," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(3), pages 467-497, May.
    33. Juanjuan Zhang & Peng Liu, 2012. "Rational Herding in Microloan Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(5), pages 892-912, May.
    34. Daniel Kaimann & Joe Cox, 2014. "The Interaction of Signals: A Fuzzy set Analysis of the Video Game Industry," Working Papers CIE 84, Paderborn University, CIE Center for International Economics.
    35. G. Geoffrey Booth & Orkunt M. Dalgic & Allan Young, 2004. "The Entrepreneur's Choice: Venture Capital Debt Financing with Adverse Selection," Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, vol. 9(3), pages 15-28, Fall.
    36. Barbi, Massimiliano & Mattioli, Sara, 2019. "Human capital, investor trust, and equity crowdfunding," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1-12.
    37. Garry D. Bruton & Salim Chahine & Igor Filatotchev, 2009. "Founders, Private Equity Investors, and Underpricing in Entrepreneurial IPOs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(4), pages 909-928, July.
    38. Gompers, Paul & Lerner, Josh, 1999. "An analysis of compensation in the U.S. venture capital partnership," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 3-44, January.
    39. Estrin, Saul & Gozman, Daniel & Khavul, Susanna, 2018. "The evolution and adoption of equity crowdfunding: entrepreneur and investor entry into a new market," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 87351, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    40. Alexandra Moritz & Joern Block & Eva Lutz, 2015. "Investor communication in equity-based crowdfunding: a qualitative-empirical study," Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(3), pages 309-342, August.
    41. Vincenzo Butticè & Massimo G. Colombo & Mike Wright, 2017. "Serial Crowdfunding, Social Capital, and Project Success," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(2), pages 183-207, March.
    42. Sahlman, William A., 1990. "The structure and governance of venture-capital organizations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 473-521, October.
    43. Kromidha, Endrit & Li, Matthew C., 2019. "Determinants of leadership in online social trading: A signaling theory perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 184-197.
    44. Cumming, Douglas & Meoli, Michele & Vismara, Silvio, 2019. "Investors’ choices between cash and voting rights: Evidence from dual-class equity crowdfunding," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8), pages 1-1.
    45. Saul Estrin & Daniel Gozman & Susanna Khavul, 2018. "The evolution and adoption of equity crowdfunding: entrepreneur and investor entry into a new market," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 425-439, August.
    46. 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)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chen Zhao & Feng Feng, 2023. "Do parent organizations influence R&D decisions of academic spin‐offs?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 43-57, January.
    2. Skare, Marinko & Gavurova, Beata & Polishchuk, Volodymyr, 2023. "A decision-making support model for financing start-up projects by venture capital funds on a crowdfunding platform," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    3. Huiling Zhang & Yaokuang Li & Juan Wu & Li Ling, 2022. "How do the network structures of lead investors affect the following of distant strangers? Evidence from Chinese equity crowdfunding," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(8), pages 3516-3533, December.

    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. Saul Estrin & Susanna Khavul & Mike Wright, 2022. "Soft and hard information in equity crowdfunding: network effects in the digitalization of entrepreneurial finance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1761-1781, April.
    2. 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.
    3. Johannes Wallmeroth & Peter Wirtz & Alexander Peter Groh, 2017. "Institutional Seed Financing, Angel Financing, and Crowdfunding of Entrepreneurial Ventures: A Literature Review," Working Papers hal-01527999, HAL.
    4. Borello, Giuliana & De Crescenzo, Veronica & Pichler, Flavio, 2019. "Factors for success in European crowdinvesting," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    5. Mataigne, Virginie & Meoli, Michele & Vanacker, Tom & Vismara, Silvio, 2025. "False signaling by platform team members and post-campaign venture outcomes: Evidence from an equity crowdfunding platform," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 40(1).
    6. Michael E. Cummings & Hans Rawhouser & Silvio Vismara & Erin L. Hamilton, 2020. "An equity crowdfunding research agenda: evidence from stakeholder participation in the rulemaking process," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 907-932, April.
    7. Marco Bade & Martin Walther, 2021. "Local preferences and the allocation of attention in equity-based crowdfunding," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(8), pages 2501-2533, November.
    8. Kazem Mochkabadi & Christine K. Volkmann, 2020. "Equity crowdfunding: a systematic review of the literature," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 75-118, January.
    9. Cai, Wanxiang & Polzin, Friedemann & Stam, Erik, 2021. "Crowdfunding and social capital: A systematic review using a dynamic perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    10. Christian Hopp & Christian Lukas, 2014. "A Signaling Perspective on Partner Selection in Venture Capital Syndicates," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(3), pages 635-670, May.
    11. Lukkarinen, Anna & Schwienbacher, Armin, 2023. "Secondary market listings in equity crowdfunding: The missing link?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    12. 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.
    13. Bollaert, Helen & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Schwienbacher, Armin, 2021. "Fintech and access to finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    14. 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.
    15. de Andrés, Pablo & Correia, Ricardo & Rezola, Álvaro & Suárez, Nuria, 2022. "The role of funding portals as signaling offering quality in investment crowdfunding," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA).
    16. 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.
    17. Shuangfa Huang & David Pickernell & Martina Battisti & Thang Nguyen, 2022. "Signalling entrepreneurs’ credibility and project quality for crowdfunding success: cases from the Kickstarter and Indiegogo environments," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1801-1821, April.
    18. Zhang, Ye & Johan, Sofia & Fu, Kun & Hughes, Mathew & Scholes, Louise & Liu, Jiajia, 2024. "The effect of lead investor’s human capital on funding performance: The moderating role of investment ambition," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    19. Walthoff-Borm, Xavier & Schwienbacher, Armin & Vanacker, Tom, 2018. "Equity crowdfunding: First resort or last resort?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 513-533.
    20. 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.

    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:wly:mgtdec:v:42:y:2021:i:4:p:836-849. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/7976 .

    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.