Green oriented crowdfunding campaigns: Their characteristics and diffusion in different institutional settings

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate how the institutional setting of different countries affects the diffusion of green crowdfunding campaigns. To this aim, we develop and test two competing hypotheses about the association between country environmental sustainability orientation and the diffusion of green campaigns. To identify green campaigns, we develop an original machine-learning algorithm. We apply this algorithm to the population of 48,598 campaigns launched on Kickstarter between July 1, 2009 and July 1, 2012. Our findings show that green campaigns differ from others along several dimensions and are more diffused in countries with a limited environmental sustainability orientation. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.