The effects of Person-Organization fit on lending behaviors: Empirical evidence from Kiva

Abstract Donation-based crowdfunding, as part of impact investment, plays a vital role in promoting economic development and alleviating poverty. In order to enhance the lender's enthusiasm for lending behavior, some platforms, for example Kiva, have introduced groups to facilitate lending. This study examines how the group environment can affect the lenders’ behaviors in crowdfunding. It has been found that lenders who join groups contribute 1.2 more loans (about $30-$42) per month than those who do not, but the theoretical mechanism of these differences is unclear. To understand in depth how the group environment affects lending behaviors, we introduce and develop the Person-Organization fit theory and Free-rider theory in this study. Combining machine-learning techniques with empirical analysis, the results show that the matching degree of motivation between group and lender has a positive effect on the lender behavior, i.e., lending to loans, and this relationship is weakened by free-riding in large groups. In addition, the group openness can have different effects on lenders of different group sizes. Our research enriches the existing crowdfunding literature and fills the gap in the research on new lending models in crowdfunding, and it will also be useful for crowdfunding platforms in setting the rules for building groups.