ECIS 2020 Research Papers

Abstract

The blockchain technology is one of the most prominent innovations in recent years. Besides its use as a cryptocurrencies wide-ranging use cases are announced and its potential to disrupt various industries is recognized. Due to its technological characteristics, it may challenge existing platforms by disintermediation. These platforms, like Amazon, usually have a provider and owner. In contrast, blockchainbased platforms may have no intermediary, but they must also have mechanisms for governance. Because there may not be an intermediary anymore, these mechanisms might differ from the mechanisms of traditional platforms. The aim of this study is to identify governance mechanisms, which were used by platforms using blockchain-technology. For this purpose, we develop a taxonomy using existing research on platform governance and a startup database. Then, we analyze the identified governance mechanisms using a cluster analysis to detect archetypes. As results, a taxonomy of governance mechanisms is developed and five archetypes of governance for blockchain-based platforms were identified.

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