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Are Sustainability-Oriented Investors Different? Evidence from Equity Crowdfunding

Author

Listed:
  • Lars Hornuf
  • Eliza Stenzhorn
  • Tim Vintis

Abstract

In this article, we examine how investor motives affect investment behavior in equity crowdfunding. In particular, we compare the investment behavior of sustainability-oriented with ordinary crowd investors on six leading equity crowdfunding platforms in Austria and Germany and investigate whether they suffer from a default shock that was recently identified by Dorfleitner et al. (2019). In general, we find evidence of a default shock in equity crowdfunding that occurs immediately after the event and if investors experience more than two insolvencies. Moreover, we find that sustainability-oriented investors pledge larger amounts of money and invest in more campaigns than ordinary crowd investors. The results also suggest that sustainability-oriented crowd investors care about non-financial returns, as they react more sensitively after experiencing a default in their equity crowdfunding portfolios, which indicates that they suffer beyond the pure financial loss. These findings contribute to recent literature on equity crowdfunding, socially responsible investing, and how individual investment motives and personal experiences affect investment decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Lars Hornuf & Eliza Stenzhorn & Tim Vintis, 2020. "Are Sustainability-Oriented Investors Different? Evidence from Equity Crowdfunding," CESifo Working Paper Series 8339, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8339
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    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp8339.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    equity crowdfunding; individual investor behaviour; entrepreneurial finance; social ; ethical; and environmental investing; socially responsible investing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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