Studies of blockchain governance can be divided into analyses of the governance of blockchains (such as rules and power dynamics within a given network) and governance by blockchains (such as how blockchains can be implemented to improve self-governance of community-based peer production...

Blockchains are distributed ledger technologies that allow the recording of any data structure, including money, property titles, and contracts. In this paper, we suggest that Hayekian political economy is especially well suited to explain how blockchain emerged, but that Elinor Ostrom's...

Permissionless blockchains have been described as a novel institutional building block for voluntary economic exchange, with unique protocol features such as automated contract execution, high levels of network and process transparency, and uniquely distributed governance. We argue that...

Permission-less (or public) block-chain networks are a new form of decentralized private governance in the digital sphere. Though legal scholars recognize the significance of law in the use of block-chain, existing research using legal and institutional perspectives leaves block-chain governance...

As blockchain applications become more pervasive and visible, it becomes increasingly important to consider their non-technical as well as their technical aspects. This paper provides a brief tutorial-style introduction to institutional economics, which is one of the important frameworks for...

Researchers interested in blockchains are increasingly attuned to questions of governance, including how blockchains relate to government, the ways blockchains are governed, and ways blockchains can improve prospects for successful self-governance. Our paper joins this research by exploring the...

The structure and operation of blockchains are dynamic, which means that mechanisms must exist for implementing changes. The New Institutional Economics (NIE), with its emphasis on how rules govern the performance of any complex organization or network, provides an especially useful framework to...