Crowdfunding as a new collaborative process in the knowledge economy. A literature review

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/VJIKMS-12-2018-0118
Pages241-255
Date13 May 2019
Published date13 May 2019
AuthorPaola Paoloni,Niccolò Paoloni,Giuseppe Modaffari
Subject MatterInformation & knowledge management,Knowledge management,Knowledge management systems
Crowdfunding as a new
collaborative process in the
knowledge economy
A literature review
Paola Paoloni
Facolta di Economia, Universita degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza,
Roma, Lazio, Italy
Niccolò Paoloni
Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Rome, Italy, and
Giuseppe Modaffari
Universita degli Studi Niccolo Cusano, Roma, Italy
Abstract
Purpose The transitionfrom industrial to social economy and fromknowledge produces a paradigm shift,
which is the space in which new professions, new values and even new formsof nancing are shaped. The
purpose of this paper is to analyze the phenomenonof crowdfunding, and the specic focus is the small- and
medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) dimension, typical in startups rms. This work discusses the main
thematic areas in the scientic literature on the phenomenon of crowdfunding (RQ1) and how is
crowdfundingtreated in SMEsdimension (RQ2).
Design/methodology/approach To analyze the literature, thisstudy uses structure literature review
methodology. To answer RQ1, the articles in the SCOPUS database on the theme of crowdfunding were
surveyed. To RQ2, the analysisfocused on the combined theme between the crowdfunding phenomenon and
the SMEsdimension.
Findings The study shows that from the scientic point of view, the treatment of the crowdfunding
phenomenon is strongly developing in many research areas. The most recurrent are those that deal with studies
linked to socio-geographical and institutional contexts and those that analyze individual behavior of investors
and crowd funders. Residual area remains the one dedicated to SMEs, where this research has led to poor results.
Originality/value This paper implements the studies on crowdfunding, a phenomenon that is rapidly
expanding worldwide. Particularattention is paid to startup rms, and the business dimension was studied
for SMEs, for which it was initially conceivedand investigated. Future work will try to apply the results of
this researchinto a case study about an Italian startup rm.
Keywords SME, Crowdfunding, Startups
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The transition from industrialto social economy and from knowledge produces a paradigm
shift, which the space in which new professions, new values and even new forms of
nancing are shaped.
Crowdfunding, or collective funding, is a collaborative process of a group of people who
use their money, in common, to support the efforts of people and organizations. It is as a
characteristicof the new phase in which we live a bottom-up process.
Crowdfunding
in the
knowledge
economy
241
Received4 December 2018
Revised4 December 2018
Accepted15 January 2019
VINEJournal of Information and
KnowledgeManagement Systems
Vol.49 No. 2, 2019
pp. 241-255
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2059-5891
DOI 10.1108/VJIKMS-12-2018-0118
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2059-5891.htm

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