PhD defence: Kristian Roed Nielsen

The dissertation explores the often ignored role of the consumer (end-user) within sustainable innovation by examining the potential of reward-based crowdfunding to enable sustainable entrepreneurship. It explores under which conditions and to what extent reward-based crowdfunding could financially benefit entrepreneurs with social and/or environmentally-oriented products. The dissertation finds that while consumers do represent a significant and growing source of innovation finance this does not necessarily translate into more sustainable finance. Instead, funding success for sustainable entrepreneurs depends on the purpose of their endeavor (i.e. social or environmental); the amount of financing sought; entrepreneurs’ geographic location, social capital, network and prior experience; and – in no small part – the product [offered].  Hence while reward-based crowdfunding is not a silver bullet often espoused by its proponents for tackling the funding concerns of sustainable entrepreneurs “the crowd” does hold a significant potential that thus far remains largely untapped.
 
Primary Supervisor:
Professor Lucia Reisch
Department of Management, Society and Communication
Copenhagen Business School
 
Secondary Supervisor:
Associate Professor Marcel Bogers
Department of Food and Resource Economics
University of Copenhagen
 
Assessment Committee:
Associate Professor Wencke Gwozdz
Department of Management, Society and Communication
Copenhagen Business School
 
Professor Cristina Rossi Lamastra
Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering
Politecnico de Milano
 
Professor, Dr. Andreas Oehler
Research Center Houshold Finance and Financial Literacy
Bamberg University
 
Thesis:
The thesis will be available here.
 
Reception:
The Doctoral School of Organisation and Management Studies will host a reception, which will take place immediately after the defence in the reception area outside of the defence room.