  In this work we seek to understand how differences in location affect
participation outcomes in IT-mediated crowds. To do so, we operationalize Crowd
Capital Theory with data from a popular international creative crowdsourcing
site, to determine whether regional differences exist in crowdsourcing
participation outcomes. We present the early results of our investigation from
data encompassing 1,858,202 observations from 28,214 crowd members on 94
different projects in 2012. Using probit regressions to isolate geographic
effects by continental region, we find significant variation across regions in
crowdsourcing participation. In doing so, we contribute to the literature by
illustrating that geography matters in respect to crowd participation. Further,
our work illustrates an initial validation of Crowd Capital Theory as a useful
theoretical model to guide empirical inquiry in the fast-growing domain of
IT-mediated crowds.
