Cette thèse en sciences de Gestion se concentre sur l'étude de la relation triptyque entre le Crowdfunding axé sur I’investissement, la RSE et l'investissement socialement responsable (ISR). L'étude repose sur un modèle de recherche tridimensionnel identifiant trois dimensions de la RSE : la dimension éthique, managériale et mesurable, la dimension éthique remet en question l'engagement social de la «foule», en fonction de sa motivation d'investissement (suite l'approche ISR). La dimension managériale tente d'identifier la «foule» en tant que partie prenante par l'adaptation modèle de Mitchel et al (1997). Enfin, la dimension mesurable illustre la capacité que les plateformes ont développé ce qui concerne la mesure de l'impact des projets sélectionnés. Le modèle de recherche identifie les différents niveaux réactivité sociale des plateformes de Crowdlnvesting observées, en fonction de la présence de ces trois dimension indiquées ci-dessus. La thèse est basée sur la recherche qualitative avec un objectif exploratoire, en utilisant l'étude cas comme une méthode de recherche avec deux cas, à savoir 100/PACT et LUMO. l'analyse empirique comprend 13 entretiens semi-directifs, deux questionnaires en ligne menés sur un site Web d'enquête en ligne. La «foule» se caractérise par un «investisseur à impact actif», confirmant l'existence de la dimension éthique de la RSE. la «foule affirme posséder les caractéristiques identifiées par Mit chef et al. (! 997), et se qualifie comme «partie prenant principal» (légitimité, pouvoir et urgence) de l'entreprise dans le cas de 100/PACT et comme «partie prenante dominante» dans le cas de lUMO (légitimité et pouvoir). La dimension mesurable de la RSE apparaît comme inexistante. Notre modèle de recherche identifie les plateformes de « Social Crowdlnvesting » s'inscrivant dans u niveau » de réactivité sociale « progressive ». Toutefois, la dimension mesurable étant en phase de développement, nous ne pouvons pas confirmer de façon précise, la classification de Crowdlnvesting en tant qu' ISR. / This thesis in management sciences focuses on studying the triptych relation between investment-based Crowdfunding, CSR and responsible investment (SRI). The research reposes on a three-dimensional research model identifying three dimensions of the CSR. The ethical, managerial and measurable dimension. The ethical dimension questions the social engagement of the “crowd”, based on their motivations to invest (following the “SRI approach”). The managerial dimension tries to identify the “crowd” as a stakeholder through the adaptation of the Mitchel et al (1997) model. Finally the measurable dimension illustrates the capacity that the platforms have developed with regards to measuring the impact of the projects they select for funding. The research model identifies different levels of social responsiveness of the observed CrowdInvesting platforms, according to the presence of these three above stated dimensions. The thesis is based on the qualitative research with an exploratory aim, using the case study as a research method based on a two case study design, namely 1001PACT and LUMO. The empirical analysis includes 13 semi direct interviews two online questionnaire conducted through an online survey website. The “crowd” is characterized as an “active impact investor”, confirming the existence of the Ethical CSR dimension. The “crowd” affirms to possess the characteristics of Mitchel et al. (1997) model, and qualifies as a “core stakeholder” (Legitimacy, power and urgency) of the enterprise in the case of 1001PACT, and as a “dominant stakeholder” in the case of LUMO (Legitimacy and power). The measurable CSR dimension appears as non-existent. Our research model therefore identifies “Social CrowdInvesting” platforms as integrating the category of a “progressive” level of social responsiveness. However, since the measurable CSR dimension is still in the development phase, we cannot confirm CrowdInvesting's classification as an SRI.

This publication-based dissertation covers four independent empirical essays using different methodological approaches that examine the role of social capital, especially networks of supporters in the venture crea-tion process from two perspectives, the financial and the knowledge development perspective. In particular, two of the essays focus on the financing process in crowdinvesting and its stakeholders from the ankles of the entrepreneurs and the investors. The second one also explores the investors’ characteristics, motivations and reactions to signals. Two further essays focus on supporting activities provided by third parties. One analyses the structure of supporters during the founding process and their relationship to the founder by using a novel approach for social capital research. The other essay highlights the special role of founder coaches during the first stages of the venture, including modelling five functional roles. It also analyses the quality of the relationship between founder and coach as well as its challenges. The data highlight that high quality networks and thus its social capital can be strategically created for the benefit of the founder during the venture development process. New insights coming from this thesis advance the current discussion on social capital by expanding it to recent phenomena in entrepreneurship of highly practical nature.:1 Introduction 1.1 Theoretical Foundations of Social Capital 1.2 Perspectives of Social Capital in Management Support 1.2.1 Essay 1: Using Repertory Grid Technique to Explore the Relationship Between Business Founders and Support Agents 1.2.2 Essay 2: Supporting fledgling entrepreneurs through founder coaching in Germany 1.3 PART II Perspectives of Social Capital in Crowdinvesting 1.3.1 Essay 3: The Financing Process of Equity-Based Crowdfunding: An Empirical Analysis 1.3.2 Essay 4: What motivates crowdinvestors? An empirical analysis of investors’ motivation and decision making in equity-based crowdfunding campaigns 1.4 Methodological Considerations 1.5 Conclusion 1.6 Implications for Academia and Practice 1.7 References 2 Essay 1: Using repertory grid technique to explore the relationship between business founders and support agents 3 Essay 2: Supporting fledgling entrepreneurs through founder coaching in Germany 4 Essay 3: The financing process of equity-based crowdfunding - an empirical analysis 5 Essay 4: What motivates crowdinvestors? An empirical analysis of investors’ motivation and decision making in equity-based crowdfunding campaigns

Diese kumulative Dissertation untersucht die Rolle von Informationen und Finanzkompetenz im deutschen Crowdinvesting-Markt. Die erste Studie erforscht den Zusammenhang zwischen dem Umfang der von Start-Ups auf Companisto veröffentlichen Informationen und dem Investitionsverhalten von Crowdinvestoren auf Basis proprietärer Nutzer-level Companisto-Daten. Meine Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass (unerfahrene) private Investoren, im Gegensatz zu institutionellen Investoren, auch „weiche“ Informationen im Rahmen ihrer Investitionsentscheidungen berücksichtigen. Meine zweite Studie untersucht das tatsächliche Informationsverhalten von Crowdinvestoren im Vorfeld von Investitionen auf Basis von Nutzer-level Google Analytics-Daten. Meine Ergebnisse suggerieren, dass Investoren einen Großteil der von Start-ups bereitgestellten Informationen im Vorfeld von Investitionen ignorieren. Darüber hinaus zeige ich auf, dass das Informationsverhalten von Investoren mit den demografischen Merkmalen, der Crowdinvesting-Erfahrung und den (durchschnittlichen) Investitionsbeträgen von Investoren zusammenhängt. Meine Ergebnisse deuten zudem darauf hin, dass Investoren beim Vorliegen potentieller Indikatoren für die Qualität eines Start-ups bzw. bei weniger riskanten Investitionen, weniger Information akquirieren. In meiner dritten Studie, welche ich gemeinsam mit Joachim Gassen durchführe, untersuche ich den kausalen Effekt einer Online-Finanzschulung auf das Informations- und Investitionsverhalten von Crowdinvestoren im Rahmen eines Feldexperiments auf Companisto. Während das Experiment noch nicht abgeschlossen ist, motiviert der in dieser Dissertation enthaltene Zwischenbericht die zugrundeliegende Forschungsfrage und beschreibt das Forschungsdesign. Die vorläufigen Ergebnisse zeigen auf, dass Crowdinvestoren im Vergleich zu repräsentativen Stichproben der Gesamtpopulation, welche vergleichbaren Studien zugrunde liegen, ein signifikant höheres Maß an finanzieller Grundkompetenz aufweisen. / This cumulative Ph.D. thesis investigates the role of information and financial literacy in the German crowdinvesting market. Using proprietary investor-level data from Companisto, one of the largest German crowdinvesting portals, the first paper explores how the magnitude of start-ups’ disclosures on Companisto is associated with crowdinvestors’ investment behavior. My findings suggest that the investment decisions by both retail and institutional crowdinvestors are positively associated with the magnitude of start-ups’ voluntary disclosures. However, while start-ups’ ‘soft’ disclosures seem to play a role in the decision-making of (inexperienced) retail investors, they appear to be irrelevant for the investment decisions of institutional investors. My second thesis paper uses investor-level Google Analytics data to explore investors’ actual information acquisition prior to investing. My results indicate that crowdinvestors tend to neglect a substantial fraction of start-ups’ disclosures before investing. Moreover, I show that investors’ information acquisition varies with their demographics, their level of crowdinvesting experience as well as their (average) investment amounts. My findings further suggest that investors acquire less information in the presence of potential signals of start-up quality and (thus) in cases where the investment appears to be less risky. In my third paper, which is co-authored by Joachim Gassen, I study the causal effect of online financial training on crowdinvestors’ information and investment behavior by conducting a field experiment on Companisto. While the experiment is still ongoing, the interim report included in my thesis motivates the overall research question and explains the research design. Our preliminary results indicate that, compared to survey samples representative for the overall population, crowdinvestors exhibit a significantly higher level of ‘basic’ financial literacy.

Submitted by Melanie Giacobbo Riffel (melariffel@hotmail.com) on 2016-04-08T21:19:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Crowdfunding De Modismo a Novo Instrumento Financeiro.pdf: 2029271 bytes, checksum: af1f85c42ea7ab56c4b69cf07e0748a7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2016-04-13T13:32:00Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Crowdfunding De Modismo a Novo Instrumento Financeiro.pdf: 2029271 bytes, checksum: af1f85c42ea7ab56c4b69cf07e0748a7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Almeida (maria.socorro@fgv.br) on 2016-04-14T12:39:36Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Crowdfunding De Modismo a Novo Instrumento Financeiro.pdf: 2029271 bytes, checksum: af1f85c42ea7ab56c4b69cf07e0748a7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-14T12:40:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Crowdfunding De Modismo a Novo Instrumento Financeiro.pdf: 2029271 bytes, checksum: af1f85c42ea7ab56c4b69cf07e0748a7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-21 / This thesis aims to evaluate the attractiveness to the small Brazilian investor, from a financial point of view, of a new form of investment, based on characteristics of the Brazilian crowdfunding model and of traditional investment tools, to be called crowdinvesting. Supported by the detailed understanding of the existing crowdfunding model in the country and the identification and mapping of the characteristics of traditional investment instruments, this study seeks to define how the new form of investment would work and examine whether, in comparison with traditional tools, in terms of risk and return, the crowdinvesting model would be competitive in the Brazilian market. / Essa dissertação tem como objetivo avaliar a atratividade para o pequeno investidor brasileiro, do ponto de vista financeiro, de uma nova forma de investimento, definida a partir de características do modelo brasileiro de crowdfunding e das ferramentas de investimento tradicionais, a ser chamada de crowdinvesting. A partir do entendimento detalhado do modelo de crowdfunding existente no país e da identificação e mapeamento das características dos instrumentos de investimento tradicionais, esse estudo busca definir como deve funcionar a nova forma de investimento proposta, e analisar se, em comparação com as ferramentas tradicionais, em termos de risco e retorno, o crowdinvesting seria competitivo no mercado brasileiro.