Civic crowdfunding for local governments: Trends and perspectives from a bibliometric analysis

IMPACT

Despite the growing interest in the civic crowdfunding landscape as a promising new approach to financing public services, the nature and dynamics of civic crowdfunding within local governance are still under-explored. This article discusses the current and potential use of civic crowdfunding in the public sector. The authors aim to increase awareness among policy-makers and practitioners about the potential of civic crowdfunding in co-creating and co-producing public values by leveraging the collaboration between the public and private sectors.

ABSTRACT

Over the past decade, civic crowdfunding has begun to be used as an alternative tool to mobilize funding from citizens for public projects. Among the various forms of public-private co-operation, civic crowdfunding could represent a very innovative model for funding some public services and supporting social innovation initiatives. Civic crowdfunding is a multifaceted phenomenon which has been under-explored and is far from well-defined in both theory and practice. This article presents a global picture of academic research on the issue of civic crowdfunding by using a combination of statistical tools, including a bibliometric analysis approach. The authors provide a robust map of the civic crowdfunding field, presenting conceptual developments and trends. The authors’ literature review highlights several research gaps that need to be addressed.

KEYWORDS:

• Civic crowdfunding
• civic engagement
• match-funding
• participatory civics
• public sector
• social innovation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Annarita Trotta

Annarita Trotta is a Full Professor of Banking and Finance at the University Magna Graecia (UMG), Catanzaro, Italy. Over her 30-year academic career she has authored (or co-authored) more than 90 scientific works and six books. Her research interests are sustainable finance, impact investing, alternative finance, reputational risk, reputational crisis in the banking sector.

Francesco Rania

Francesco Rania is an assistant professor at the University Magna Graecia (UMG), Catanzaro, Italy. He is a member of the American Mathematical Society. He has written over 40 papers and two books covering various interests in combinatorial geometry and graph theory, functional analysis and variational methods, ring theory and non-commutative algebra, risk theory and decision analysis.

Lina Scalise

Lina Scalise’s research interests are alternative finance, social finance, and innovative financing tools in the public sector and the financial industry.

Eugenia Strano

Eugenia Strano is a postdoctoral fellow at the University Magna Graecia (UMG), Catanzaro, Italy. Her thesis entitled ‘Impact measurement in impact investing: analysis of experiences and best practices’ received the Giovanni Marra Memorial Award (2022 edition) from the municipality of Milan. Her research interests are sustainable finance, impact investing, impact measurement, and alternative and innovative financing models.