Crowdfunding in the Digital Social Economy: A Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Crowdfunding has transformed access to finance through online platforms, yet its broader social effects remain inadequately explored. This study investigates the role of crowdfunding in the digital social economy through a systematic review of ten peer-reviewed articles published between 2020 and 2024, selected using the PRISMA approach from the Scopus database. To enrich the thematic analysis, a bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSviewer, based on extracted keywords and metadata from the same ten articles. The findings reveal a contradictory pattern: while crowdfunding democratizes access to capital in sectors such as creative industries, education, and healthcare, it simultaneously reinforces inequality through digital literacy requirements, reliance on social capital, and biases embedded in platform dynamics. The bibliometric study identifies ten thematic clusters, including legal frameworks, platform governance, and digital inequality. This study concludes that crowdfunding functions as a hybrid socio-financial intermediation mechanism that demands inclusive design, regulatory clarity, and ethical governance to realize its democratic potential. The article introduces the concept of “socio-financial intermediation” as a theoretical contribution, offering practical insights for platform developers, policymakers, and institutions.