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Crowdfunding Scientific Research

Author

Listed:
  • Henry Sauermann
  • Chiara Franzoni
  • Kourosh Shafi

Abstract

Crowdfunding may provide much-needed financial resources, yet there is little systematic evidence on the potential of crowdfunding for scientific research. We first briefly review prior research on crowdfunding and give an overview of dedicated platforms for crowdfunding research. We then analyze data from over 700 campaigns on the largest dedicated platform, Experiment.com. Our descriptive analysis provides insights regarding the creators seeking funding, the projects they are seeking funding for, and the campaigns themselves. We then examine how these characteristics relate to fundraising success. The findings highlight important differences between crowdfunding and traditional funding mechanisms for research, including high use by students and other junior investigators but also relatively small project size. Junior investigators are more likely to succeed than senior scientists, and women have higher success rates than men. Conventional signals of quality - including scientists' prior publications - have no relationship with funding success, suggesting that the crowd applies different decision criteria than traditional funding agencies. Our results highlight significant opportunities for crowdfunding in the context of science while also pointing towards unique challenges. We relate our findings to research on the economics of science and on crowdfunding, and we discuss connections with other emerging mechanisms to involve the public in scientific research.

Suggested Citation

  • Henry Sauermann & Chiara Franzoni & Kourosh Shafi, 2018. "Crowdfunding Scientific Research," NBER Working Papers 24402, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24402
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Franzoni, Chiara & Sauermann, Henry, 2014. "Crowd science: The organization of scientific research in open collaborative projects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 1-20.
    2. Ajay Agrawal & Christian Catalini & Avi Goldfarb, 2014. "Some Simple Economics of Crowdfunding," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(1), pages 63-97.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chien-Chi Chu & Ya-Fang Cheng & Fu-Sheng Tsai & Sang-Bing Tsai & Kun-Hwa Lu, 2019. "Open Innovation in Crowdfunding Context: Diversity, Knowledge, and Networks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, January.
    2. Peter Konhäusner & Marius Thielmann & Veronica Câmpian & Dan-Cristian Dabija, 2021. "Crowdfunding for Independent Print Media: E-Commerce, Marketing, and Business Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-17, October.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

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