Title: Crowdfunding: Equity or Debt

Biography:

He holds a Ph.D. (Summa Cum Laude) in Quantitative Methods and International Economics from the UIC Chicago, USA, 1983, an M.B.A. in International Business from De-Paul University of Chicago, USA, 1979, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Athens, Greece, 1976. His extended studies include a Professional Diploma in Correspondent Banking from Bankers Trust Corp, New York, USA, 1998, and a Professional Diploma in Advanced Management Program Bankers from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, 1999.
He holds a European Chair Jean Monnet since 1997, he is the Editor-in-Chief of ERSJ, IJEBA, and Editorial Board member in several journals. He is also the Chair and Founder of the ICABE conference and the President of ISMA. He has an extended record of publications.

Abstract

The term Crowdfunding derives from the crossing of the English words "crowd" and "funding", indicating the practice of "finding funds through the crowd", which is a modality of microfinance from below that makes use of the help of benefactors who choose to invest freely, inspired by the project and the proposed idea.
Through research conducted on Scopus and Web of Science, articles have been selected that deal with the phenomenon of crowdfunding. Both the three types of crowdfunding have been identified, hedonism, altruism, and for-profit and the subjects involved project promoters seeking funding for their projects, supporters willing to support a specific project, and matchmaking crowdfunding platforms acting as intermediaries.
Through crowdfunding, investors can fund a group of people who use their joint money to support the efforts of individuals and organizations. It is a bottom-up microfinance practice that mobilizes people and resources.
According to the Framework for European Crowdfunding, "the rise of crowdfunding in the last ten years derives from the proliferation and emergence of web applications and mobile services, conditions that allow entrepreneurs, businesses, and creatives of all kinds to be able to dialogue with the crowd to get ideas, raise money and solicit input on the product or service they intend to propose”. Crowdfunding is an important source of funding each year for around half a million European projects that would otherwise never receive the funds to see the light. In 2013, funds amounting to around one billion euros were raised in Europe. Exponential increases are estimated soon, trillions by 2020, thanks to crowdfunding, which finds all the elements to be able to best unleash its potential in web 2.0. The question which is still open is if crowdfunding is considered equity or debt.