How gender influences the probability of success in crowdfunding

Abstract

Female entrepreneurs have higher barriers of entry when compared to their male cohorts. Female discrimination is present when trying to gain access to finance in the traditional investment industry. In recent years, crowdfunding has emerged as a viable method of early venture financing. This paper investigates the correlation between female entrepreneurs and the likelihood of accessing finance on crowdfunding compared to males. The evidence shows that campaigns led by female entrepreneurs benefit from higher rates of success compared to their male counterparts. Furthermore, when investigating whether females, compared to males, experience a larger negative effect as goals increase in relation to success, results found that there is no difference between females and males. And finally, when analyzing whether female success rate in male dominated categories is lower compared to males, we see that females benefit from higher rates of success, compared to males. Female participation on the crowdfunding platform as is less than males, however, they succeed at higher rates than men, even in typically male dominated industries, illustrating that crowdfunding can help take steps towards breaking the cycle of female discrimination when investing.

Date of Award	25 Jul 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Cláudia Isabel de Sousa Costa (Supervisor)