Call For Papers
Crowdfunding: Setting the Research Agenda

Oct. 17 and 18, 2013, UC Berkeley

We are seeking submissions for a research conference on crowdfunding (CF), sponsored by the Coleman Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership, UC Berkeley College of Engineering, and generously supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, on October 17 and 18, 2013.Given the April 2012 passage of the JOBS Act (Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act), and delay in the issuance of clear regulatory guidelines, the research agenda remains unclear. As such, we seek a very wide array of submissions from all disciplines. We encourage scholars to think deeply about what we should study and to distill crisp research questions, such that we can collectively put forth an effective and coherent research agenda. While the focus will be equity CF, we will consider research on all versions of the phenomenon. If you have any preliminary research results to share, they would be appreciated, however, we also welcome thoughtful expositions and research designs. We anticipate panel discussions on topics such as sources, organization, and reporting of available data, standardization of terms, research design challenges, and analysis of late breaking proposals.

The Hon. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the house sponsor of the JOBS Act will be in attendance and will be recognized by the College for his efforts to drive meaningful change in entrepreneurial finance. Scott Bauguess, Assistant Director of the SEC's Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation division will attend and present. We also hope to have in attendance the legislators who sponsored CF reform in the U.S. Congress. The conference will begin with lunch on Thursday, October 17, include dinner that evening, and conclude in the early afternoon on Friday, October 18.

PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: Please send proposals by August 20, 2013, to Hazel Palaski: hpalaski@berkeley.edu.

TOPICS: Potential topics include:

FINANCE, FUNDING MECHANISMS, AND ENTREPRENEURIAL FINANCE:
- Who will get funded with CF? Will CF displace Angels, VCs, or other conventional sources? Or generate new demand for funding?
- CF may not fully finance a new venture over time. What impact and signaling effect will early CF have on subsequent (possibly conventional) financing?
- Private capital markets are opaque. Can storing all disclosures related to a small business offering lead to greater transparency? What are the major faults of an opaque marketplace and what can we expect from a digital footprint that forces disclosure?
- What is the best way to calculate the valuation of startups or small enterprises in CF offerings?
- What are the liquidation mechanisms of CF investments?

FRAUD, BUSINESS FAILURE AND RISK:
- How can CF fraud be minimized?
- Can automated algorithms accurately detect potential fraud?

THE IMPACT OF CF ON THE RATE AND TYPES OF INNOVATIONS:
- How will equity-based CF influence the rate and direction of innovation? To what extent will it increase the number and types of innovations that are funded?

GOVERNANCE AND LEGAL STRUCTURES:
- In what ways do CF institutions affect the nature and outcome of CF efforts? How do differences in CF portals affect the type and nature of projects being proposed? How does regulation influence the utility and outcomes associated with CF? How is CF as a practice evolving in response to these issues?
- What are the governance challenges associated with CF? How will highly distributed ownership structures impact entrepreneurial management and success? What are the existing organizational structures that are most similar to those associated with/anticipated to be associated with CF?

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND TECHNOLOGY AND THEIR SOCIETAL IMPACTS:
- How will online community dynamics influence the process and outcomes of CF efforts?
- Reputation management systems aim to increase transparency and encourage the development of crowd wisdom. How effective are such systems? What lessons have we learned from ebay or yelp that can help or hinder CFI investment decisions?
- Will the social benefits from equity-based CF (e.g., gains from trade, spillovers from innovation) outweigh the social costs (e.g., losses due to fraud, incompetence)?

DISADVANTAGED ENTREPRENEURS AND CF:
- Will there be gender differences in the chances of funding and its impact?
- What is the role of CF as an extension of microfinance models and as a vehicle for funding very early stage enterprises unable to secure traditional financing?

ENTERPRENEURSHIP AND ISLAMIC FINANCE:
- What is the role of Islamic Finance in promoting entrepreneurship?
- What are the requirements and potential of Islamic Finance and Social Responsible Investments within CF?
- What is the social benefit from Islamic and conventional equity-based CF within Arab spring and emerging countries?

REGIONAL ECONOMICS:
- What are the lessons to be learned from non-U.S. CF initiatives? - What are the regional dynamics of CF? What regions have the most CF, what regions have the most successful CF, and what can explain these observations? Do these dynamics differ from more conventional sources of funding?