Funding Success Research Articles

Facilitating the Success of Women’s Early Career Grants: A Local Solution to a National Problem

Grant funding is essential to the advancement of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields with certain grants viewed as especially prestigious and career formative. The goal of this project was twofold: first to describe the gender demographics of the national winners of two prestigious grants and second, to document the impact of an educational program aimed at improving the success for women in STEM fields in a local setting. In Study 1, we analyzed publicly available national data to document gender gaps in National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) and National Institutes of Health’s K01 awards from 2008-2021. Results showed that, while the ratio of K01 awards favored women, the ratio of men-to-women CAREER awardees favored men. In Study 2, we implemented a grant-writing program for CAREER awards based in self-determination theory at one university and analyzed its impact on funding success. Results comparing before the educational program and after showed that the average annual success rate increased for everyone from 11% to 33%. Women-identified faculty who participated in the program were awarded CAREER funding at a higher rate than would be expected from the number of women eligible to apply or submission rates. While the correlational and observational nature of this study make it impossible to conclude that it was only the educational programs that resulted in the benefits to women’s award success, we encourage other universities to consider adapting the program and enable faculty development around grant success.

The Impact of Stock Selection, Market Timing and Equity Fund Size on Equity Funds Performance during Covid-19

Investors in Indonesia pay attention to the financial market's investment tools, including mutual funds. Some mutual funds even provide a higher return on investment than alternative stock investments, with a lower level of risk be-cause investment managers properly manage them. This research aims to determine how stock mutual fund success is affected by factors such as stock selection, market timing, mutual fund size, and Covid-19, with Covid-19 serving as a moderator. Purposive sampling was utilized to conduct research on Indonesian equity funds. This study's sample consists of equity funds administered by fourteen investment management firms authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (OJK). Panel data regression analysis in Eviews is used to examine the information. It was discovered that neither mutual fund size nor Covid-19 played a statistically important role in determining the success of equity funds. However, equity fund returns are significantly influenced by company picking and market timing. As a supplementary benefit, Covid-19 can significantly reduce the beneficial effects of overly optimistic stock picking on the returns of equity funds. This research also demonstrates that the effects of mutual fund size and market timing on stock fund returns are not reduced by using Covid-19.

Perspectives of Part-Time Augmentative and Alternative Communication Use in Adults and Implications for Pediatric Service Delivery

Purpose: Speaking autistic adults who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) part-time increasingly share their experiences of insufficient, unreliable, or inconsistent speech. Their experiences detail how forced communication through verbal speech alone causes harm and how AAC systems allow them to communicate freely. The purpose of this clinical focus article is to (a) define intermittent, unreliable, and inconsistent speech as experienced by autistic adults; (b) discuss implications for service delivery of AAC to autistic children; and (c) present an example of a pediatric part-time AAC assessment through a case study. Method: This clinical focus article presents a case study of an AAC assessment completed at a university clinic for a speaking child who experiences intermittent speech. Data from the case study were collected through chart review, a semistructured interview with the parent, and short surveys sent to the family. The case study presents the background and history of the client, planning for the assessment procedures, and details of the assessment procedures and data collected, and summarizes the results of the assessment. Results: The results of the assessment led to the successful funding of an AAC system through a third-party insurance provider. A summary of the follow-up session with the family after the device was received is provided. Conclusions: Characteristics of the mother's advocacy for her child's communication and its implications for the case study are discussed. Future directions of this research include the development of communication choice–affirming assessment and intervention protocols created in collaboration with autistic adults to support children who experience insufficient, intermittent, or unreliable speech.

Analysis of Factors Influencing the Success of Funding in Equity Crowdfunding Registered in the Financial Services Authority in Indonesia

This study aims to determine and test the effect of intellectual capital signals and the level of uncertainty on the success of funding on equity crowdfunding platforms that are officially registered with the financial services authorities in Indonesia. The population of this study is prospectuses for open offers made by MSMEs on equity crowdfunding platforms in Indonesia in 2019 – 2021, with a total of 147 prospectus observation data. The sampling technique used is purposive sampling, which is a sampling technique with specific criteria. Multiple regression analysis is the method to test the hypothesis. This study argues that intellectual capital and the uncertainty presented in an open offer in equity crowdfunding can be perceived by novice investors or crowd funders as a signal of business quality and encourages them to invest and meet funding targets by exploiting the role of signalling theory in reducing information asymmetry. The study results show that only business alliances indicate intellectual capital, and financial projections indicate the level of uncertainty that has a positive and significant effect on the number of funds that indicate successful funding. Meanwhile, business experience and product innovation, indicators of intellectual capital, and date debt, indicators of uncertainty, have no significant effect. Based on these findings, the success of equity crowdfunding, officially registered in Indonesia, is influenced by business alliances and financial projections. This research provides valid implications for entrepreneurs, platform managers, and policymakers/authorities. Keywords: funding success, equity crowdfunding, intellectual capital, level of uncertainty

The role of entrepreneur’s experience and company control in influencing the credibility of passion as a signal in equity crowdfunding

ABSTRACT In this study, we focus on entrepreneurs’ passion as a signal in influencing fundraising success via equity crowdfunding. Moreover, we look at the role of entrepreneurs’ task-specific experience – industry and startup experience- and company control in influencing the credibility of passion as a signal. Through a text analysis of 606 equity crowdfunding campaigns in the UK, we found that entrepreneurs’ displayed passion positively influences funding success and that entrepreneurs’ startup experience reinforces the credibility of this signal, i.e., the impact of passion on fundraising success. Additionally, we found that when entrepreneurs retain more shares of the company, the influence of displayed passion on funding success is greater. Our study contributes to the crowdfunding literature highlighting the importance of entrepreneurs’ passion in influencing fundraising success via crowdfunding, and what influences the credibility of passion as a signal.

Standards of Diagnostic Validation: Recommendations for Reference Collections

Agricultural and ecosystem biosecurity requires accurate and reliable diagnostic data provided by systems of people, technologies, and validated diagnostic assays. Biological reference collections, including living and preserved microbe culture collections, and authenticated sequence databases are essential for development and validation of robust diagnostic assays, as well as breeding for disease resistance. However, the lack of standardized requirements for long-term preservation, curation, recordkeeping, and data provenance of collections poses a significant risk to this research. Several examples of successful collections and funding models exist, but these are disparate, disconnected, and lack standards for harmonization among them. We recommend a framework for coordinated development, long-term maintenance, and accessibility of curated sets of pathogen data representing cultures and other reference material that could serve the needs of pathogen diagnostics development, population studies, and resistance breeding efforts. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .

Mirror, mirror—A gendered lens on female entrepreneurs’ facial attractiveness in reward-based crowdfunding

Scholars investigating women's attractiveness have documented its disadvantages (the “beauty is beastly” effect), especially in male-typed domains, including entrepreneurship. However, reward-based crowdfunding research demonstrates that these platforms reverse gender biases typically found in traditional entrepreneurial finance. Thus, in reward-based crowdfunding, the adverse effect of women's attractiveness needs to be re-examined. In a sample of 7447 Kickstarter projects, we find that facial attractiveness increases funding success for women more than for men and that sex differences in attractiveness effects are greater in male-typed categories like technology. A post-hoc reveals a surprising attractiveness penalty for men in the technology sector and offers insights for future research.

Crafting a Convincing Research Proposal: A Guide to Writing Successful Funding Applications

Writing a research proposal for funding is a crucial skill for researchers seeking to secure financial support for their projects. A well-drafted proposal can convince funding agencies about scientific, commercial and social impact of the research project and also researcher's competence and skill. However, crafting a persuasive proposal is always challenging, and many researchers struggle with where to start and how to structure the proposal. This manuscript aims to provide a comprehensive guide for writing a research project proposal for funding. It discusses the key elements involved in the research process and outlines the essential components of a persuasive research proposal. It provides a helpful guidance on how to hone in on a research question, pinpoint a knowledge gap, and define specific goals for the study. It also explores different research methodologies and provides guidance on how to select the most appropriate approach for a given research project. It further provides tips on how to structure the proposal effectively, including the use of clear and concise language, and the inclusion of relevant and compelling supporting evidence. In conclusion, it will serve as a thorough and practical resource for anyone looking to secure financial backing for their next research endeavor. Our endeavor is to provide invaluable tool for scientists who are applying for grants or seeking funding for their research endeavors. Keywords: Research proposal, Well-crafted proposal, Manuscript, Writing, Comprehensive guide

Psychological distancing and language intensity in Peer‐to‐Peer lending

AbstractPeer‐to‐peer (P2P) lending is referred to as lending money to unknown borrowers directly through online platforms without using traditional financial intermediaries. We leverage insights from the literature on psychological distancing and affective intensity to argue that linguistic styles, as the manifestation of social psychological distance, have a negative impact on P2P funding success. Testing our arguments with data from a major Chinese P2P platform, we find that using too many “you” and negations (proxies for social psychological distance) in the borrower's description will dampen a lender's willingness to support a funding campaign. Moreover, when the social psychological distance is large, language intensity can be perceived as desperate, making a lender even less willing to support the funding campaign. Our research shed new light on the role of language in P2P funding success and has practical implications for lenders, borrowers and regulators in overcoming barriers in P2P lending.

지적재산권 관리가 국내 디지털 미디어 콘텐츠 업체 VC 투자 유치에 미치는 영향

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between a company's Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio strength and its success in obtaining venture funding in the Korean digital media & entertainment industry. Using data from 685 Korean digital media & entertainment companies registered in Crunchbase, a global database provider of venture funding information, we found that a strong IP portfolio is positively associated with funding success. Furthermore, our study revealed that the effect of IP portfolio strength on funding success is stronger for younger companies, suggesting that IP portfolio is more critical for firms that have less reputation and track record.

Backer behaviors – changing investment dynamics in equity crowdfunding markets

PurposeThis study aims to establish the shape of investment dynamics in equity crowdfunding to better understand backer behavior.Design/methodology/approachThis study provides insights into when backers invest in successful funding campaigns. It uses t-tests to compare differences in means between observation windows during successful funding campaigns. It is based on 4,938 transactions from 61 campaigns, focusing on the first and last tail ends.FindingsIn contrast to previous findings, the current investment dynamics seem more U-shaped than L-shaped. This supports previous findings about a strong start but also suggests a late collective attention effect. The strength is higher at the first tail end. However, differences in the later tail ends are statistically significant and emphasize the presence of late investment activities, especially in crowded or less complex campaigns.Practical implicationsThese findings emphasize the importance of signaling during the entire funding window. This encourages platforms to invest in user-friendly functionalities that guide entrepreneurs and help backers when investing in successful campaigns.Originality/valueThis study improves the understanding of backer behavior and suggests changing investment dynamics in equity crowdfunding. In addition, this pattern contrasts with previous findings on dynamic collective attention effects in rich digitally informative markets, implying two attention effects when uncertainty is high.

The Impact of Stock Selection, Market Timing and Equity Fund Size on Equity Funds Performance during Covid-19

Investors in Indonesia pay attention to the financial market's investment tools, including mutual funds. Some mutual funds even provide a higher return on investment than alternative stock investments, with a lower level of risk be-cause investment managers properly manage them. This research aims to determine how stock mutual fund success is affected by factors such as stock selection, market timing, mutual fund size, and Covid-19, with Covid-19 serving as a moderator. Purposive sampling was utilized to conduct research on Indonesian equity funds. This study's sample consists of equity funds administered by fourteen investment management firms authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (OJK). Panel data regression analysis in Eviews is used to examine the information. It was discovered that neither mutual fund size nor Covid-19 played a statistically important role in determining the success of equity funds. However, equity fund returns are significantly influenced by company picking and market timing. As a supplementary benefit, Covid-19 can significantly reduce the beneficial effects of overly optimistic stock picking on the returns of equity funds. This research also demonstrates that the effects of mutual fund size and market timing on stock fund returns are not reduced by using Covid-19.

Success factors for peer-to-peer lending for SMEs: Evidence from Indonesia

Sharia fintech lending grew up at the teenage stage and has successfully taken a strategic place in the Indonesian loan market. Adopting the economics of information and signaling theory, this paper investigates the probability of successful crowdfunding. Using cross-section data, this study analyzes 1,153 funded projects on Ammana.id platform, a well-known Indonesia’s sharia P2P lending. This study runs OLS regressions to examine the effect of loan information (ranking, estimated profit shares, and financing duration) on the amount of crowded funding. This finding support both theories, that the information about the loan is a signal in determining the success of project funding. Ranking and duration of financing significantly affect the success of the P2P sharia lending platform, nevertheless profit share estimation is not significant. Loans that operated in short, tend to raise more funding, and vice versa. Loan ranking can provide the lender with instant information about the borrowers’ condition. Lenders tend to avoid low rankings loans due to the potential failure of loan payments. This study also found a surprising result that the coefficient of profit sharing is positive for Islamic funding but insignificant. This result shows that material gain is not the main issue for investors, but the elements of trust and justice are nobler according to Islamic beliefs. This study proves that loan information as a low-cost signal can be used by investors to make the best decision and reduce adverse selection problems. The findings support the strategic growth of Islamic platforms to build a sustainable Islamic investment and maintain financial stability. Acknowledgments Appreciation is given to the General Directorate of Higher Education, Research and Technology, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, and the Institute for Research and Community Service of Universitas Islam Nahdlatul Ulama (Unisnu) Jepara, Indonesia.

99 Grant Writing Program to Enhance Junior Faculty Research Funding Success

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The grant writing process provides investigators with critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills, crucial for personal and professional development. However, opportunities for junior faculty to learn these skills are highly variable. Thus, we developed a grant writing program to assist in the preparation of an NIH R proposal. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The R Club Grant Program was implemented in 2021 for junior faculty of the University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine and Center for Clinical & Translational Science & Training (CCTST). The program consists of a series of workshops (e.g., How to Craft a Specific Aims Page, How to Construct a Competitive R01 Proposal) utilizing examples of successful proposals and grant review criteria to demonstrate how to translate a conceptual framework into a research proposal (level 1). All participants can receive constructive feedback on a Specific Aims page from an experienced grant writer (level 2), and for a select cohort, the program provides comprehensive scientific content edits and iterative feedback on a full research proposal, with a focus on grantsmanship, presentation, and overall competitiveness (level 3). RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Over three NIH grant cycles, the program to date has provided 38 early-career investigators with multi-level grant writing support. All participants attended the workshops and received supporting documents, 21 received feedback on a Specific Aims page, and 6 received one-on-one writing assistance on their full research proposal. Of the 6 investigators who received the greatest level of support, 3 have received NIH scientific review, with a 66.6% funding success rate for either an original (R01, n=1) or subsequent overlapping (R35, n=1) proposal. In a survey sent to workshop attendees, 100% of respondents (n=23) reported ( Strongly Agreed or Agreed ) that the training was a worthwhile investment in their professional development and 96% stated that they will be able to apply the knowledge and skills learned. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Initial evaluation measures suggest that grant writing support programs have great potential to enhance funding success rates. As the program evolves it will be crucial to evaluate both qualitative and quantitative feedback measures to ensure efforts are directed to the appropriate level(s) of service to maximize the funding success of our faculty.

How heuristic cues impact crowdfunding performance: The moderating role of platform competition intensity and platform demand potential

Crowdfunding is an emerging financial channel for entrepreneurs to finance ventures. Nevertheless, the funding success rates of reward-based crowdfunding projects are low, apparently due to information asymmetries between entrepreneurs and potential investors. Using heuristic cues to improve crowdfunding performance has attracted increasing attention from both scholars and practitioners. To expand understanding of the role of heuristic cues in crowdfunding, the current study explores how platform contextual factors leverage the effect of heuristic cues on crowdfunding performance. This study analyzed 6363 projects on the Jingdong crowdfunding platform and found that the performance benefits of heuristic cues were substantially contingent on platform competition intensity and platform demand potential. The results provide empirical evidence that platform competition intensity can weaken the heuristics-performance relationship, while platform demand potential can strengthen it. These findings extend current conceptions of the relationship between signals and performance in signaling theory and the crowdfunding literature.

Concealing borrowers’ failure history in online P2P lending: A natural experiment

AbstractOnline peer‐to‐peer (P2P) platforms both disclose and conceal borrowers’ information. Minimal research has been conducted on the impact of concealing such information on borrowers’ funding success. We fill this research gap by exploring a natural experiment opportunity at Prosper, an online lending marketplace where the platform enacted a policy to conceal borrowers’ past failure history. We first find that the platform's decision to conceal such information can be rational because when this information was publicly available, borrowers with past failures had lower success rates than borrowers without past failures. We next investigate the effect of hiding this information on lenders' lending decisions. Our empirical results from a series of analyses demonstrate that concealing such information helps some borrowers but also surprisingly leads to an overall lower success rate, which ultimately harms the platform and runs counter to the platform's intention. These effects are strongest for low‐risk borrowers and would attenuate in the long run. We further find that the number of borrowers’ past failures is associated with lower repayment ability.

사회 또는 건강에의 위협? 코비드19의 프레이밍이 사람들의 돈과 시간의 기부의사에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

As the coronavirus outbreak spreads, the pandemic has affected every region of the world, and its impacts are multi-fold; economic, political, and social. This research investigates how Covid-19 influences individuals’ prosocial intentions and behaviors through a random experiment and analysis of field data from a crowdfunding platform. When Covid-19 is described as a disease impacting society (vs. individual’s health), people perceive its threat more severely. We find that participants’ age moderates this relationship between Covid-19 descriptions and perceived severity. While perceived severity linearly increases with age in the health perspective condition, it does not vary by age in the social perspective condition. More importantly, this increased perception of Covid-19 severity subsequently leads to a higher willingness to help others with money (i.e., donation) but not with time (i.e., volunteering). We use a difference-indifference approach using large data from a loan-based crowdfunding platform, Kiva, and find that projects with society-related words yield higher funding success rates than those with health-related words after Covid-19. Our results suggest that highlighting the social aspect of Covid-19 rather than health-related issues would be a more effective communication strategy for encouraging prosocial behaviors.

Performance of Mutual Funds in India: A Study with Reference to Select Equity Multi-Cap Funds

Indian Mutual Fund Industry has witnessed enormous expansion in terms of growth of Assets under Management (AUM), from a meagre Rs. 25 crores in 1964 to Rs. 36.59 lakh crores in August 2021. Equity Multi-cap mutual funds tend to invest in stocks of companies across the stock market irrespective of sector and size. As a result, these funds provide much-needed diversification. In a direct plan, the investor decides to invest directly in mutual funds without routing the investment through any distributor or agent. Due to the absence of an intermediary commission, the direct plan has a lower expense ratio than a regular plan which leads to higher returns.
 Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the stock markets have experienced an extensive crisis with severe dampening effects in the entire global scenario. It has affected the Indian Mutual Fund Industry as well. However, irrespective of all negative signs, the impact of COVID-19 has created a ray of hope towards rebuilding self-confidence for Indian investors during the last year in this new normal landscape.
 In this backdrop, the present research paper focuses on examining the performance of direct plans of four open-ended Equity Multi-cap Mutual Funds [Baroda Multi-Cap Fund (BMF), ICICI Prudential Multi-Cap Fund (IPMF), Invesco India Multi-Cap Fund (IIMF) and Nippon India Multi-Cap Fund (NIMF)] based on certain parameters. This secondary data-based study covers 8 years (2013-2021). The criterion for selecting the funds was net assets above Rs.1,000 crores as of 31.08.2021. Results reveal that the funds provided double-digit returns during the entire study period. IPMF and NIMF performed poorly and remained riskier than the benchmark during the entire study period. Further, NIMF remained the riskiest fund throughout the study period. IIMF remained the best performer in the 1-year, 5-year and 8-year periods in terms of risk-adjusted return. NIMF remained the most aggressive fund and BMF remained the most defensive fund during the entire study period. The fund managers of IIMF succeeded in quality stock-picking in 1-year, 5-year and 8-year. The fund managers of NIMF performed miserably throughout the study period and failed in quality stock picking. RSQ values portray that BMF was the most successful fund in terms of diversification during the entire study period.

Numerological Heuristics and Credit Risk in Peer-to-Peer Lending

People often use heuristics as mental shortcuts when making financial decisions. Although the literature typically considers heuristics as behavior biases, we explore how different types of heuristics differ from one another. Through peer-to-peer lending data, we observe that borrowers who use limited attention when applying for loans tend to choose round loan amounts, simplifying the decision-making process but compromising accuracy. This round-number heuristic decreases their funding success rate and increases the probability of default. On the other hand, some borrowers select loan amounts in “lucky numbers” that superstitious lenders favor. This lucky-number heuristic caters to the lenders’ preference, thus increasing the borrowers’ funding success rates and reducing the likelihood of default. Our paper demonstrates that borrowers select heuristics based on their motives, leading to varying consequences. We also show that heuristics are not all the same, and people’s choice of heuristics provides insight into their characteristics and can predict decision outcomes. For instance, factoring in heuristic usage information improves default prediction accuracy in our setting. Our findings can be beneficial to practitioners in refining the underwriting and screening of borrowers and loans.

The COVID-19 impact on crowdfunding performance: evidence from a peer to-peer lending platform

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 impact on global poverty dragged another 97 million people into poverty in 2020. Nonetheless, there is scant evidence reporting on the impacts on alternative means of financing designed to enable the poor during this global health crisis. This paper addresses this gap of funding impoverished entrepreneurs by studying the changes in their successfully funded campaigns on the largest crowdfunding microfinance platform prior and during COVID-19. After collecting data from January 2018 to November 2021 for a total of 767,112 campaigns, we report that the COVID-19 pandemic positively impacts on the funding success of the crowdfunding campaigns. However, rises in the daily number of COVID-19 cases negatively associate with campaigns getting fully funded. The odds of campaigns being fully funded decrease by 4.4% for a one thousand increase in new cases.