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The academic literature holds high expectations of crowdfunding to foster sustainable development by closing the funding gap for sustainable entrepreneurs. In particular, crowdfunding is considered a promising instrument for transforming existing socio-technical regimes by financing radical innovations of such entrepreneurs. However, this potential has not yet been fully explored. Large knowledge gaps exist especially in the area of investment-based crowdfunding. Therefore, this dissertation addresses the overarching research question of how sustainable entrepreneurs can exploit the full potential of investment-based crowdfunding to develop from niche operators to actors in the socio-technical regime. Five journal articles and one book chapter are included in this PhD project, which use a wide range of quantitative methodologies. In the framework paper, the findings are conceptually evaluated on a meta-level by applying the multi-level perspective. The key insights can be assigned to four categories, including the financing and marketing function, the target group, and the project presentation. The analysis shows that investment-based crowdfunding is suitable to equally fund and market the business ideas of environmental entrepreneurs, since the quest for entering the mass market is highest for such ventures. In contrast, purely social entrepreneurs tend to conduct crowdfunding projects on a smaller scale and probably aim to stay in the niche. Nevertheless, profit-oriented social entrepreneurs are still encouraged to use investment-based crowdfunding for funding and marketing purposes. The prominent display of environmental effects (e.g. the amount of compensated greenhouse gases) and financial incentives (e.g. high interest rates) has a high impact on the investment decision of individuals on investment-based crowdfunding platforms. The findings also suggest that the typical supporter of sustainability-oriented crowdfunding projects is younger than 50 years, has achieved at least a university degree and holds low levels of self-enhancement and conservative values. The case of fairafric is used as a best practice example to demonstrate how crowdfunding can be a stepping stone for sustainability-oriented niche actors to enter the mass market. The fair-trade and organic chocolate manufacturer has undergone six crowdfunding campaigns which enabled it to grow and build a strong community of supporters. The outcomes of this dissertation clarify how sustainable entrepreneurs can unleash the potential of investment-based crowdfunding for financing and marketing purposes.
Der Begriff Blockchain tritt zum ersten Mal in Verbindung mit der Kryptowährung Bitcoin im 21. Jahrhundert auf. Bitcoin basiert auf einer dezentralen Open Source Software, welche Ende 2008 erstmals vorgestellt und kurz danach gestartet wurde. Das anfänglich beschriebene Protokoll von Bitcoin hat sich mittlerweile zu einem Phänomen entwickelt, dass unter dem Begriff Kryptoökonomie zusammengefasst wird. Es ist ein Phänomen, dass eine Revolution in vielen Bereichen der Wirtschaftssysteme hervorrufen wird.Im Zentrum stehen dabei dezentrale und fälschungssichere Datenbanken, dessen Wertschöpfung auf kryptografischen Algorithmen basieren. Mittlerweile ist Bitcoin nicht mehr die einzige Kryptowährung, denn innerhalb der
letzten sieben Jahre hat sich ein großes, vielseitiges Universum von Kryptowährungs- und Kryptotransaktionssystemen entwickelt. Am 11.10.2016 sind auf der Webseite coinmarketcap.com 711 verschiedene Kryptowährungen eingetragen, die einen Wechselkurs besitzen. Es kann davon auszugehen sein, dass noch eine Vielzahl weiterer Kryptowährungen existieren, welche keinen Wechselkurs ausweisen, unter privater Nutzung stehen oder sich noch in Entwicklung befinden. All diese Entwicklungen werden durch die Blockchain vereint. Auch Swan sieht in der Blockchain die größte technologische Innovation von Bitcoin. Sie vergleicht dabei die Blockchain-Technologie mit dem revolutionären Potential des Internets und ordnet Blockchain nach der mobilen und sozialen Vernetzung als fünftes,disruptives Computerparadigma ein. Sie untergliedert die zahlreichen Systeme in Bezug auf die Blockchain in drei Kategorien.
The dissertation contains four journal articles which are embedded within a framework manuscript that interconnects the individual articles and provides relevant background information. The dissertation’s overall objective is to provide a multilayered and critical in-depth engagement with the timely phenomenon of integrated reporting (IR), a new reporting concept that is envisaged to revolutionize firms’ present reporting infrastructure. While extant corporate reports (e.g., annual financial- and CSR report) often are criticized for being disconnected and to suffer from a lack of coherence, IR intends to provide all information that is material to a firm’s short-, medium- und long-term value creation within one single, succinct document. To contribute to a set of previously defined relevant research gaps in literature, the dissertation makes use of a combined empirical-quantitative and explorative-qualitative research design. The first article entitled ‘Determinants of materiality disclosure quality in integrated reporting: Empirical evidence from an international setting’ investigates a set of different IR-, corporate governance and financial accounting-specific factors that are expected to determine European and South African firms’ materiality disclosure quality. To this purpose, an original, hand-collected materiality disclosure score was developed. The second article ‘Managers’ incentives and disincentives to engage with integrated reporting, or why managers might not adopt integrated reporting: an exploratory study in a nascent setting‘ explores IR perceptions of SME managers that have not embarked on IR, but are potential candidates to do so in future. Based on a review of extant literature, the article develops a theoretical framework to subsequently discuss motives for and barriers to IR adoption. The critical discussion contributes to the academic debate on incentives for and barriers to voluntary IR adoption. The third article named ‘Does it pay off? Integrated reporting and cost of debt: European evidence’ investigates whether voluntary IR adoption among European firms is associated with lower cost of public debt. While earlier studies suggest that IR leads to lower information asymmetries, increases analyst forecasts, and decreases cost of equity, corresponding evidence for the debt market is largely missing. Subsequent analyses test as to whether such an association is even more pronounced by a firm’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance or its belonging to an environmentally sensitive industry. The fourth article ‘Do nonprofessional investors value the assurance of integrated reports? Exploratory evidence’ uses an experimental design to investigate nonprofessional investors’ reactions to an IR assurance. To this purpose, two separate experiments with two different groups of nonprofessional investors were carried out: one with Masters students and one with managers of large corporations. Results help to answer the question as to whether an IR assurance as well as its determinants, namely the assurance provider and the assurance level, affect nonprofessional investors’ financial decision-making. In the second step, subsequent in-depth interviews reveal an IR assurance-critical attitude among managers, who draw upon their practical experience with assurance engagements.
