ICES: Small: Socio-Technical Design of Crowdfunding Websites

这个项目将探索“众筹”领域的一些技术问题：引导公众一次小额捐款来资助项目。众筹网站是一个被称为“配对市场”的普遍研究问题的一个例子：在一个中心地方，两种类型的人根据某些标准进行配对。这方面的其他例子还有求职网站，雇主和雇员来这里配对（找工作），以及在线约会网站。众筹展示了一种“互补性”：一个项目只有在足够多的人捐款后才能启动。一个人的捐款不足以支持一个项目，但如果一个人等待别人先捐款，有价值的项目可能会得不到资助。许多现实世界的配对市场都涉及互补性，包括情侣一起找工作，以及项目经理试图组建一个合作良好的团队。这个项目汇集了计算机科学和经济学的思想。这两个学科都研究匹配问题，但在互补性存在的情况下，都没有找到一个完全令人满意的解决方案。在经济学中，最常见的解决方案是“延迟接受”机制，但在处理互补性时，这种机制就失效了。计算机科学家经常使用“推荐系统”向人们推荐以帮助提高匹配。但当有互补性时，我们甚至不清楚应该推荐什么。这项研究将加深对互补性在这两种解决方案中的作用的理解，并应用跨领域的见解来设计更好的匹配方法。该项目将通过开发一个众筹系统在现实世界中测试这些想法。该系统将为新的算法和机制提供一个试验台。它还将支持一个充满活力的学生社区，帮助他们资助培养重要技能的小型创意项目。众筹越来越多地被用于资助高质量的专业新闻（在Spot等网站上）。以及完善的众筹系统有可能成为这个苦苦挣扎的行业的新资金来源。该研究项目还将培养本科生和研究生进行跨学科研究的能力。

This project will explore some technical problems in the area of "crowdfunding:" inducing members of the public to contribute small amounts of money at a time to fund projects. Crowdfunding web sites are an instance of a commonly studied problem called a "matching marketplace:" a central place where two types of people come to be matched according to some criteria. Other examples of this are job websites, where employers and employees come to be matched (find jobs), and online dating sites. Crowdfunding exhibits a "complementarity:" a project cannot start until enough people donate money. One person's donation is not enough to support a project, but if a person waits for others to donate first, valuable projects may be left unfunded. Many real-world matching marketplaces involve complementarities, including couples finding jobs together and a project manager trying to put together a team that works well together.This project brings together ideas from both computer science and economics. Both disciplines study matching problems, but neither has found a completely satisfactory solution in the presence of complementarities. In economics, the most common solution is a "deferred acceptance" mechanism, which breaks down when dealing with complementarities. Computer scientists frequently use "recommender systems" that make recommendations to people to help improve matches. But it isn't even clear what should be recommended when there are complementarities. This research will develop an understanding of the role of complementarities in both of these types of solutions, and apply insights across fields to design better methods of matching.The project will test these ideas in the real world by developing a crowdfunding system. This system will provide a test bed for new algorithms and mechanisms. It will also support a vibrant community of students by helping them to fund small creative projects that develop important skills. Crowdfunding is increasingly being applied to fund high-quality professional journalism (on sites such as Spot.Us), and improved crowdfunding systems have the potential to be a new funding source for this struggling industry. This research project will also train both undergraduate and graduate students in the conduct of interdisciplinary research.