Call for Papers

We invite submissions for our second annual academic symposium on crowdfunding (CF), sponsored by the Coleman
Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership, UC Berkeley College of Engineering, on September 11th and 12th, 2014. Like
the first conference, this second gathering will bring together academics, practitioners, and policy makers. We
welcome submissions from a wide array of scholars, including those in the social sciences, policy, law, economics as
well as traditional business, entrepreneurship and innovation scholars.
This symposium will take a global look at the developing phenomena of social finance for SMEs and Innovation -
whether strictly crowdfunding or more broadly the application of social finance mechanisms including Peer-to-Peer
lending, Peer-to-Business lending, and all other forms of crowdfunding and crowdfund investing. Since our 2013
conference, the number of platforms has more than doubled, and despite significant delays in enacting rules to allow
equity crowdfunding in the United States, many nations have adopted laws and rules to allow crowdfunding.
There has also been significant interest from NGOs, Foundations, Philanthropic groups, universities, and other groups in
the application of crowdfunding mechanisms to solve both complex global challenges as well as fund hyper-local
programs.
The conference will begin with lunch on Thursday, September 11th and includes dinner that evening. It concludes in
the afternoon of September 12th. Consistent with our model from last year, we are inviting distinguished scholars to
present their views during moderated panels, as well as top thought leaders internationally. This format allows for the
exchange of best practices, questions and research insights from leaders in the international community.
The following list of questions may serve as a guide for submissions, but we welcome research papers that fit broadly
within the discussion of crowdfunding and how it is evolving. Send proposals to Hazel Palaski -
hpalaski@berkeley.edu by July 15th, 2014.

Funding Mechanisms and Patterns
Consumer Behavior, Online Consumer Finance
Public Policy Issues from Online Consumer Finance and Syndicated Lending and Investing
Legal Issues Surrounding General Solicitation and Investor Protection
Crowdfunding for International Development
Crowdfunding by Corporations, the Rise of Crowdfunded Innovation
Mutilnational Crowdfunding Policy, Legal Issues, and Impact on Capital Flows
Geography of Crowdfunding, Clustering, Industry Concentration
Disintermediation or Alternative Intermediation: The Role of Lending Portals
Culture, Religion and Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding and Angel, VC investing
Motivations of Investors, Differences in Crowdfunding Investing
Crowdfunding by NGOs and Non-Profits
Questions may be directed to Prof. Lee Fleming lfleming@berkeley.edu Academic Chair of the Conference or to Dr.
Richard Swart rswart@berkeley.edu Conference Organizer.