Exploring dimensions of governance for different types of blockchain systems

Abstract

The rapid evolution of digital technologies has significantly reshaped governance. While much existing literature focuses on public blockchain governance, fewer investigate governance mechanisms of private and consortium blockchains, increasingly prevalent in society. We explore how blockchain systems enact governance using Beck et al.’s (2018) framework examining decision rights, accountability, and incentives. Interviews with eighteen blockchain experts reveal that public blockchains offer greater decision rights, less accountability and emphasise intrinsic incentives. In contrast, private and consortium blockchains adopt hierarchical governance where central entities regulate access, decision-making and behavioural norms. These systems prioritise extrinsic incentives and accountability than public blockchains. Our findings challenge the view of blockchain as purely decentralised, instead offering evidence of hybridised structures in practice. We also extend Beck et al.’s framework by studying three blockchain types and propose a systems and structure-based rationale for control in blockchains, as opposed to trust-based mechanisms (Pflueger et al. (2022)). Finally, we offer a variation on how responsibility and accountability depart, beyond extant MA studies (Burkert et al., 2011; Giraud et al., 2008) - suggesting that openness does not necessarily equate to enhanced accountability. These insights are crucial for understanding blockchain governance and have important implications for digital systems integration in organisations.