Institutional characteristics and the development of crowdfunding across countries

Abstract

The diffusion of crowdfunding among countries differs consistently, based, in part, on differences in national institutional environments. This study analyses the influence of formal and informal institutions in 27 different countries during the 2014–2017 period, on the development of crowdfunding. Our results show that the crowdfunding market – across all the different crowdfunding typologies- is larger in countries characterized by a business-friendly legal environment, and well-developed financial market in the case of lending crowdfunding. Individualistic societies register higher crowdfunding activity across the different typologies; lending crowdfunding is more widespread in countries characterized by higher uncertainty-avoidance and, together with equity crowdfunding, in long-term oriented societies.