Separating the wheat from the chaff: Sharing vs. self-interest in crowdfunding

This chapter assesses crowdfunding as part of a growing interest in the sharing economy. Conceptual handles are proposed for apprehending what is meant by ‘sharing’ and how this relates to crowdfund- ing. The notion of ‘the common’ is revived, which involves placing societal interests ahead of personal gain. We distinguish self-interest sharing from what we term ‘communal sharing’, which involves mak- ing financial services accessible and usable based on an identification of people’s or societal needs. Drawing from crowdfunding examples mostly in the United States and France, with some reflections on crowdfunding in developing countries, we assess the nature and purpose of such activities, and distin- guish between different levels of analysis, including the ‘platform and motivation for the platform’, the ‘mechanism and donors’ and the ‘project’. We conclude with a discussion around the implications of our findings towards the long-term viability of crowdfunding platforms.