N°24-25: Technology Entrepreneurs’ Environmental Commitments and Crowdfunding Outcomes

We study the role of environmental commitments by technology entrepreneurs in their reward-based crowdfunding campaigns. Technology projects with public environmental commitments are significantly less likely to receive funding, but this varies depending on local climate opinions and political views. Backers in areas less concerned about climate change and more Republican areas are significantly less likely to fund campaigns with environmental commitments. The negative relationship between campaign outcomes and environmental commitments is stronger in cases where such commitments might be assumed more costly, suggesting that at least some backers interpret there to be a trade-off between sustainability and other product features.