Crowdfunding platforms are believed to create a more equal-opportunity environment for fundraising by removing entrance barriers found in traditional financial markets. Our work draws from the literature on the “long tail” to investigate whether in creating more equal opportunities for entering the market, crowdfunding platforms also create a more equal distribution of funds. We utilize a natural experiment in the form of a policy change on Kickstarter.com that resulted in op

Crowdfunding platforms are peer-to-peer two-sided markets that enable amateur entrepreneurs to raise money for their ventures over the Internet. However, in allowing practically anyone to enter, such markets risk being flooded with low-quality offerings, a situation that might be detrimental to the success of higher-quality products. We empirically investigate the implications of such a situation, referred to as a “market of lemons”. We analyze a quasi-natural experiment in t