The impact of economic policy uncertainty on crowdfunding success

This study provides the first investigation into how reward-based crowdfunding is influenced by economic policy uncertainty (EPU), one of the most important macroeconomic factors today. Strikingly, EPU is found to be positively linked to crowdfunding success and the crowdfunding market, in completely contrast to most financial activities, which are adversely affected by EPU. We further examine what, and how, factors may alter the relation between the EPU index and crowdfunding. We also conduct an analysis on the aggregate demand for crowdfunding, showing that more projects and larger amounts of capital are launched and requested when EPU is high. Overall, our research documents the significance of macroeconomic elements as predictors of crowdfunding success.