{"title":"A configurational perspective on design elements and user governance engagement in blockchain platforms","authors":"Rongen “Sophia” Zhang, Balasubramaniam Ramesh","doi":"10.1111/isj.12494","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Blockchain technology offers the potential to create an open, decentralised governance structure that empowers stakeholders to participate in decentralised engagement. However, how blockchain platforms configure their design elements to establish and maintain decentralised systems with high levels of user governance engagement requires further research. This study investigates the key design elements of blockchain platforms and their ideal configurations for promoting user governance engagement. Due to the complex and interdependent nature of the design elements, we adopt a configurational perspective accompanied by a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to uncover complex nonlinear relationships among key conditions that are relevant to decentralised governance. Our research identifies five key design elements that facilitate distributed governance (<i>Access to decision rights</i>, <i>Process visibility</i>, <i>Protocol automation</i>, <i>Incentives for developers/miners</i>, and <i>Incentives for other stakeholders</i>) based on existing blockchain governance literature. We analyse 14 unique blockchain platform cases that adopted on-chain governance. Our fsQCA results reveal three ideal types of blockchain governance configurations that are sufficient for high generative user governance engagement: <i>Centralised incentive model</i>, <i>Impartial incentive model</i>, and <i>Automation-driven model</i>, whereas achieving high evaluative governance engagement requires the presence of all the design elements (<i>Comprehensive model</i>). Also, we found <i>Access to decision rights</i> and <i>Protocol automation</i> are necessary conditions for generative governance engagement, and <i>Access to decision right</i>s together with <i>Process visibility</i> is a combined necessary condition for evaluative governance engagement. Relevant theoretical and practical implications for platform designers as well as methodological implications for applying QCA to emerging IS phenomena are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":48049,"journal":{"name":"Information Systems Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.5000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/isj.12494","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Information Systems Journal","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/isj.12494","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Blockchain technology offers the potential to create an open, decentralised governance structure that empowers stakeholders to participate in decentralised engagement. However, how blockchain platforms configure their design elements to establish and maintain decentralised systems with high levels of user governance engagement requires further research. This study investigates the key design elements of blockchain platforms and their ideal configurations for promoting user governance engagement. Due to the complex and interdependent nature of the design elements, we adopt a configurational perspective accompanied by a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to uncover complex nonlinear relationships among key conditions that are relevant to decentralised governance. Our research identifies five key design elements that facilitate distributed governance (Access to decision rights, Process visibility, Protocol automation, Incentives for developers/miners, and Incentives for other stakeholders) based on existing blockchain governance literature. We analyse 14 unique blockchain platform cases that adopted on-chain governance. Our fsQCA results reveal three ideal types of blockchain governance configurations that are sufficient for high generative user governance engagement: Centralised incentive model, Impartial incentive model, and Automation-driven model, whereas achieving high evaluative governance engagement requires the presence of all the design elements (Comprehensive model). Also, we found Access to decision rights and Protocol automation are necessary conditions for generative governance engagement, and Access to decision rights together with Process visibility is a combined necessary condition for evaluative governance engagement. Relevant theoretical and practical implications for platform designers as well as methodological implications for applying QCA to emerging IS phenomena are discussed.
期刊介绍：
The Information Systems Journal (ISJ) is an international journal promoting the study of, and interest in, information systems. Articles are welcome on research, practice, experience, current issues and debates. The ISJ encourages submissions that reflect the wide and interdisciplinary nature of the subject and articles that integrate technological disciplines with social, contextual and management issues, based on research using appropriate research methods.The ISJ has particularly built its reputation by publishing qualitative research and it continues to welcome such papers. Quantitative research papers are also welcome but they need to emphasise the context of the research and the theoretical and practical implications of their findings.The ISJ does not publish purely technical papers.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
