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Governance and control in distributed ledgers: understanding the challenges facing blockchain technology in financial services

Author

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  • Zachariadis, Markos
  • Hileman, Garrick
  • Scott, Susan V.

Abstract

As blockchain platforms are becoming increasingly noticeable in financial services and beyond, questions arise regarding their suitability to compete with or replace existing payment systems and marketplaces and redesign the financial infrastructures of the future. Prominent among these concerns are issues around governance and control in distributed ledgers: How are distributed ledger technologies governed? Can blockchains address complex administration problems? What key issues of note for practitioners and academics have emerged thus far? In this paper we aim to review the existing governance practices of established or popular blockchain and decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) systems with a view to understanding how they hold up in times of crises. What questions are raised when they are compromised or faced consensus challenges in coordinating action especially around control and accountability? We use a translational process, generating focal insights about present concerns from the reference point of completed academic studies and extensive practitioner consultation. Rather than adopting a declarative approach attempting to provide all the answers, we draw insights from the IT platform governance literature to offer a critical perspective for asking the right questions around key governance issues in financial infrastructure such as decision rights, control mechanisms, and incentives.

Suggested Citation

  • Zachariadis, Markos & Hileman, Garrick & Scott, Susan V., 2019. "Governance and control in distributed ledgers: understanding the challenges facing blockchain technology in financial services," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100479, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:100479
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/100479/
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    Cited by:

    1. Marco Bellucci & Damiano Cesa Bianchi & Giacomo Manetti, 2021. "A literature review on blockchain in accounting research," Working Papers - Business wp2021_04.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    2. Santana, Carlos & Albareda, Laura, 2022. "Blockchain and the emergence of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs): An integrative model and research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    3. Han, Hongdan & Shiwakoti, Radha K. & Jarvis, Robin & Mordi, Chima & Botchie, David, 2023. "Accounting and auditing with blockchain technology and artificial Intelligence: A literature review," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    4. Devine, Anthony & Jabbar, Abdul & Kimmitt, Jonathan & Apostolidis, Chrysostomos, 2021. "Conceptualising a social business blockchain: The coexistence of social and economic logics," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    5. Wallbach, Sören & Lehner, Roland & Röthke, Konstantin & Elbert, Ralf & Benlian, Alexander, 2020. "Trust-Building Effects of Blockchain Features – An Empirical Analysis of Immutability, Traceability and Anonymity," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 120705, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    6. Jovanovic, Marin & Kostić, Nikola & Sebastian, Ina M. & Sedej, Tomaz, 2022. "Managing a blockchain-based platform ecosystem for industry-wide adoption: The case of TradeLens," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    7. Mohammad Hossein Ronaghi & Mohammad Mosakhani, 2022. "The effects of blockchain technology adoption on business ethics and social sustainability: evidence from the Middle East," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 6834-6859, May.
    8. Marco Schletz & Laura A. Franke & Søren Salomo, 2020. "Blockchain Application for the Paris Agreement Carbon Market Mechanism—A Decision Framework and Architecture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-17, June.
    9. Rangaswamy, Arvind & Moch, Nicole & Felten, Claudio & van Bruggen, Gerrit & Wieringa, Jaap E. & Wirtz, Jochen, 2020. "The Role of Marketing in Digital Business Platforms," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 72-90.
    10. Zhengtang Fu & Peiwu Dong & Siyao Li & Yanbing Ju, 2021. "An intelligent cross-border transaction system based on consortium blockchain: A case study in Shenzhen, China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-22, June.
    11. Kyungmoo Heo & Sangyoon Yi, 2023. "(De)centralization in the governance of blockchain systems: cryptocurrency cases," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 12(3), pages 59-82, September.
    12. Zhou, Yu & Yan, Shuangqi & Li, Gendao & Xiong, Yu & Lin, Zhibin, 2023. "The impact of consumer skepticism on blockchain-enabled sustainability disclosure in a supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    13. Pattnaik, Debidutta & Hassan, M. Kabir & Dsouza, Arun & Tiwari, Aviral & Devji, Shridev, 2023. "Ex-post facto analysis of cryptocurrency literature over a decade using bibliometric technique," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    14. Wallbach, Sören, 2020. "Assimilation and Diffusion of Multi-Sided Platforms in Dynamic B2B Networks: Inhibiting Factors and Their Consequences," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 123277, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    15. Onjewu, Adah-Kole Emmanuel & Walton, Nigel & Koliousis, Ioannis, 2023. "Blockchain agency theory," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    16. Bai, Chunguang & Zhu, Qingyun & Sarkis, Joseph, 2021. "Joint blockchain service vendor-platform selection using social network relationships: A multi-provider multi-user decision perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    17. Pranav Gangwani & Alexander Perez-Pons & Tushar Bhardwaj & Himanshu Upadhyay & Santosh Joshi & Leonel Lagos, 2021. "Securing Environmental IoT Data Using Masked Authentication Messaging Protocol in a DAG-Based Blockchain: IOTA Tangle," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-19, December.
    18. Petra Ritzer-Angerer, 2019. "Digitalisierung des Finanzsektors," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 72(20), pages 43-48, October.
    19. Walsh, Clara & O’Reilly, Philip & Gleasure, Rob & McAvoy, John & O’Leary, Kevin, 2021. "Understanding manager resistance to blockchain systems," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 353-365.
    20. Erica Pimentel & Emilio Boulianne, 2020. "Blockchain in Accounting Research and Practice: Current Trends and Future Opportunities," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), pages 325-361, December.
    21. Bokolo Anthony Jnr., 2022. "Toward a collaborative governance model for distributed ledger technology adoption in organizations," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 276-294, June.
    22. David Teh & Tehmina Khan & Brian Corbitt & Chin Eang Ong, 2020. "Sustainability strategy and blockchain-enabled life cycle assessment: a focus on materials industry," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 605-622, December.
    23. Gajendra Liyanaarachchi & Giampaolo Viglia & Fidan Kurtaliqi, 2024. "Addressing challenges of digital transformation with modified blockchain," Post-Print hal-04440365, HAL.
    24. Ashish Dwivedi & Dindayal Agrawal & Sanjoy Kumar Paul & Saurabh Pratap, 2023. "Modeling the blockchain readiness challenges for product recovery system," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 327(1), pages 493-537, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    financial infrastructures; blockchain; distributed ledger technology; payment systems; governance; Ethereum; Bitcoin; cryptocurrencies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F3 - International Economics - - International Finance
    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance

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