Do local innovation systems promote successful equity crowdfunding campaigns? Evidence from Italy

Our paper explores the relationship between the geographical location within a local innovation system (LIS) of the Italian ventures that have launched an equity crowdfunding project and the success of the campaign. Specifically, drawing on a data set of 356 crowdfunded projects over the period 2015–2019, through a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) approach, our results show that, after the entry into force of the 2018 Consob regulation, the probability of projects' success increases more for those campaigns launched by ventures located in innovative areas. The results are robust to the choice of both the response variables and the treatment indicator. Moreover, we used a placebo test to check the validity of the approach.