Equity crowdfunding can be a valid alternative for ventures that struggle in finding the capital to finance their operations. It can also foster the entrepreneurial ecosystem in terms of innovation and contribution to economic growth. Several papers have studied the characteristics of campaigns and the dynamics of capital raising. However, there is little research aimed at explaining the relationship between the operational results of companies which ran an equity crowdfunding campaign and the outcome of the campaign itself. This work aims at filling this gap with respect to the Italian market, representing an absolute novelty for academic research at a national level: the dataset that was used includes the companies that ran crowdfunding equity campaigns up to 2017 on authorized Italian platforms. This study analyzes the relationship between the outcome of the campaign, the type of capital raised by firms who failed the campaign, operational performances and survival probabilities. Among the results, it is shown that Italian companies that have successfully closed an equity crowdfunding round have better results than their counterparts: in fact, they grow more in the following year and they are less likely to be liquidated. However, if they compensated for the failure of the campaign finding other forms of equity capital, no difference in performance can be seen. Also, a strong correlation between revenue growth and raised capital is highlighted, regardless of the type of investment. Hence, the idea that financial resources are well allocated in this market is supported, although there seems to be no advantage in receiving ECFs rather than equity in other forms. The "wisdom of the crowd" seems to be partially confirmed: investors are able to recognize the best companies thanks to a form of collective intelligence. This research can be interesting for the community of industry professionals and it is a starting point for further studies concerning the impact of alternative finance in Italy.
L’equity crowdfunding può rappresentare uno strumento importante per gli imprenditori che hanno difficoltà nel reperire i capitali necessari a finanziare la propria attività. Può inoltre contribuire ad una maggiore vitalità nell’ecosistema imprenditoriale in termini di innovatività e contributo alla crescita dell’economia. Diversi studi riguardanti le caratteristiche e le dinamiche durante la raccolta sono stati condotti, ma poche sono le ricerche che mirano a spiegare la relazione fra i risultati operativi delle imprese e l’aver raccolto capitale in questa maniera. Questo lavoro si pone l’obiettivo di affrontare queste lacune sul mercato italiano, rappresentando una novità assoluta nel panorama nazionale della ricerca. Sono state considerate le imprese che hanno concluso campagne di equity crowdfunding fino al 2017, analizzando la relazione fra risultato della campagna, quale tipo di capitale raccolto se hanno fallito la campagna e performances operative. Tra i risultati, si dimostra che le aziende Italiane che hanno chiuso con successo un round di equity crowdfunding crescono di più l’anno successivo alla campagna e hanno minori probabilità di essere liquidate rispetto alle loro controparti che non hanno avuto successo. Tuttavia, se esse hanno sopperito al fallimento della campagna tramite equity di altro tipo, non si osserva una differenza nei risultati. Si dimostra in seguito che c’è una forte correlazione fra la crescita del fatturato e il capitale raccolto, a prescindere dal tipo di capitale. Viene supportata l’idea che le risorse finanziarie siano ben allocate in questo mercato, nonostante non sembra esserci un vantaggio nel ricevere ECF piuttosto che equity in altre forme. Sembra almeno parzialmente confermato il “wisdom of the crowd”: gli investitori sono capaci di riconoscere le migliori aziende grazie a una forma di intelligenza collettiva. Questa ricerca può essere d’interesse per la comunità di professionisti del settore, nonché fungere da punto di partenza per studi successivi riguardanti l’impatto della finanza alternativa in Italia.
The operating performances of Italian firms after an equity crowdfunding campaign
STRADI, LORENZO;MAZZER, LUIGI
2018/2019
Abstract
Equity crowdfunding can be a valid alternative for ventures that struggle in finding the capital to finance their operations. It can also foster the entrepreneurial ecosystem in terms of innovation and contribution to economic growth. Several papers have studied the characteristics of campaigns and the dynamics of capital raising. However, there is little research aimed at explaining the relationship between the operational results of companies which ran an equity crowdfunding campaign and the outcome of the campaign itself. This work aims at filling this gap with respect to the Italian market, representing an absolute novelty for academic research at a national level: the dataset that was used includes the companies that ran crowdfunding equity campaigns up to 2017 on authorized Italian platforms. This study analyzes the relationship between the outcome of the campaign, the type of capital raised by firms who failed the campaign, operational performances and survival probabilities. Among the results, it is shown that Italian companies that have successfully closed an equity crowdfunding round have better results than their counterparts: in fact, they grow more in the following year and they are less likely to be liquidated. However, if they compensated for the failure of the campaign finding other forms of equity capital, no difference in performance can be seen. Also, a strong correlation between revenue growth and raised capital is highlighted, regardless of the type of investment. Hence, the idea that financial resources are well allocated in this market is supported, although there seems to be no advantage in receiving ECFs rather than equity in other forms. The "wisdom of the crowd" seems to be partially confirmed: investors are able to recognize the best companies thanks to a form of collective intelligence. This research can be interesting for the community of industry professionals and it is a starting point for further studies concerning the impact of alternative finance in Italy.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/151832