Protection of crowdfunders: a typology of equity crowdfunding platforms through governance mechanisms

Are crowdfunders investors like any other? One may wonder whether governance mechanisms designed to protect the interests of shareholders will be attractive to crowdfunders. We developed an original database integrating all French equity crowdfunding platforms to propose a typology of platforms based on their governance mechanisms. We identify four categories of governance systems, going beyond the usual dichotomy. Finally, we examine platforms' popularity and show that the crowd is attentive to the disciplinary mechanisms designed to force the manager to act in the shareholders' interests.