The Dark Side of Crowdfunding

Wanted - exceptional doctoral candidates to undertake trailblazing, transformative research alongside outstanding early-career researchers.

Coventry University (CU) is inviting applications from suitably-qualified graduates for a fully-funded PhD studentship.

This doctoral (PhD) project has been devised and developed by a leading early-career researcher at Coventry University. The Trailblazer Scheme provides doctoral researchers with an innovative and dynamic intellectual space in which to undertake transformative research, whilst fully supported by a team of experienced supervisors.

The studentship will commence in May 2020.

Details of the PhD project:

The PhD project will tackle the issue of fraudulent crowdfunding by combining analytical and modelling research approaches to develop evidence-based recommendations for the industry.

Crowdfunding plays an increasing economic role as an enabler of start-ups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses, especially those who have limited access to traditional financing routes. While the bright side of crowdfunding has been promoted and studied, the dark side remains unexplored. Indeed, only few studies in the literature investigate the issues of fraud and the majority of these are reward-based crowdfunding (see e.g., Cumming et al., 2019; Mollick, 2014)

The proposed doctoral project will have three main objectives:

1) To thoroughly identify, define and categorise fraudulent activities in all types of crowdfunding
2) To develop models to estimate the impact of fraudulent activities to different stakeholders in crowdfunding
3) Based on empirical results from 2), managerial recommendations will be offered to regulators, crowdfunding platforms, investors and fundraisers.

Benefits:

The successful candidate will receive comprehensive research training including technical, personal and professional skills. All researchers at Coventry University (from PhD to Professor) are part of the Doctoral College and Centre for Research Capability and Development, which provides support with high-quality training and career development activities.

Candidate specification:

• A minimum of a 2:1 first degree in a relevant discipline/subject area with a minimum 60% mark in the project element or equivalent with a minimum 60% overall module average PLUSthe potential to engage in innovative research and to complete the PhD within a 3.5 years
• a minimum of English language proficiency (IELTS overall minimum score of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in each component)

For further details see: https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/research-students/making-an-application/

Additional items for candidate specification:

Experience working/doing research in crowdfunding area will be an advantage.

How to apply:

To find out more about the project please contact Dr Thang Nguyen, [Email Address Removed]

All applications require full supporting documentation, a covering letter, plus a 2000-word supporting statement showing how the applicant’s expertise and interests are relevant to the project.