IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v78y2025ics1544612325004830.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Crowdfunding and sustainable development: A systematic review

Author

Listed:
  • Carè, Rosella
  • Fatima, Rabia
  • Agnese, Paolo

Abstract

This study employs bibliometric analysis to explore the evolving role of crowdfunding in financing sustainable development goals (SDGs). Analyzing 148 peer-reviewed articles (2014–2024), it identifies key trends, influential contributors, and thematic clusters in academic discourse. Findings reveal a surge in research post-2020, with a focus on entrepreneurial finance, environmental sustainability, and financial innovation. Equity crowdfunding and FinTech emerge as pivotal in bridging sustainability-related funding gaps. Cluster analysis highlights four major research areas: financial innovation's role in sustainability, crowdfunding's contribution to SDGs (especially post-COVID-19), microfinancing and financial inclusion for SMEs, and ESG integration in entrepreneurial finance. Despite these advances, significant research gaps remain, particularly the need for longitudinal studies to assess the long-term impacts of crowdfunding on sustainability, as well as a deeper understanding of the ethical implications surrounding governance and backer protection on crowdfunding platforms. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on sustainability-oriented crowdfunding by offering a detailed roadmap for future research and practical implications for scholars and practitioners alike.

Suggested Citation

  • Carè, Rosella & Fatima, Rabia & Agnese, Paolo, 2025. "Crowdfunding and sustainable development: A systematic review," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:78:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325004830
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.107220
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612325004830
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2025.107220?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Alternative finance; Crowdfunding; Sustainable development; Sustainable development goals; SDGs; Sustainability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:78:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325004830. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.