Let others know who your friends are: The effect of collaborator disclosure on crowdfunding performance

Abstract

AbstractOur analysis of 141,848 campaigns on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform suggests that collaborator disclosure has a substantial positive impact on crowdfunding performance. This finding is consistently supported by a series of robustness tests. Collaborator disclosure alleviates backers' concerns about campaign risk, the competence of the fundraiser, and the fundraiser's lack of experience. Our findings highlight the significance of disclosing information about collaborators in financial markets with high levels of information asymmetry. In addition, our research adds to the existing literature on voluntary information disclosure and its ability to alleviate market frictions.