Human capital signals and entrepreneurs’ success in equity crowdfunding

Evila Piva () and Cristina Rossi-Lamastra ()
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Evila Piva: Politecnico di Milano
Cristina Rossi-Lamastra: Politecnico di Milano

Small Business Economics, 2018, vol. 51, issue 3, No 9, 667-686

Abstract: Abstract Grounding on research about the role of signals in the attraction of equity finance, this paper studies the effects of diverse human capital signals on entrepreneurs’ success in equity crowdfunding. We argue that the human capital of an entrepreneur, who launches (alone or with other teammates) an equity crowdfunding campaign to finance her start-up, constitutes a set of signals of the start-up quality. The impact of each human capital signal on entrepreneur’s success in equity crowdfunding depends on both signal fit with start-up quality and signal ambiguity. Empirical estimates on 284 entrepreneurs who launched equity crowdfunding campaigns indicate that only entrepreneurs’ business education and entrepreneurial experience, two human capital signals that have both a good fit with start-up quality and a low degree of ambiguity, significantly contribute to entrepreneurs’ success in equity crowdfunding.

Keywords: Equity crowdfunding; Signalling theory; Human capital signals; Signal fit; Signal ambiguity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D82 G11 G23 L26 M13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (66)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11187-017-9950-y

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