Crowdfunding and SME’s: a gender analysis

The aim of this paper is to analyze the phenomenon of crowdfunding and specifically focus is the SME's dimension, typical in female entrepreneurship. The main questions research are: what are the main thematic areas in the scientific literature on the phenomenon of crowdfunding? (RQ1); how is crowdfunding treated in the SME's dimension? (RQ2); is there a specific treatment of crowdfunding in female entrepreneurship? (RQ3). To analyze the literature, we uses the SLR. For the development the (RQ1), the articles in the SCOPUS database on the theme of crowdfunding were surveyed. To develop the (RQ2) the analysis focused on the combined theme between the crowdfunding phenomenon and the SME's dimension. Finally, for the (RQ3) we have combined the research between what emerged from the results of the RQ2 and the specific focus on female businesses. The finding show that from the scientific point of view the treatment of the crowdfunding phenomenon is strongly developing in many research areas. The most recurrent are those that deal with context studies linked to socio-geographical, institutional, and those that analyze individual behavior of investors and crowdfunders. Residual area remains the one dedicated to SME's where our research has led to poor results. Totally non-existent is the treatment of the crowdfunding phenomenon in women's businesses. This work implements the studies on crowdfunding, a phenomenon that is rapidly expanding worldwide. Particular attention is paid to the gender context. Furthermore, the study of the business dimension for which it was initially conceived was further investigated: the SME's. Our next work will try, through a case study, to fill the gap in literature between the crowdfunding phenomenon and women's businesses, found in our current research.