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There is considerable hype about blockchain in almost every industry, including finance, with significant investments globally. We conduct a systematic review of 851 records and construct a final article sample of 183 for the sample period 2012 to 2020 to identify relevant factors for blockchain adoption in corporate governance. We conduct textual and empirical analysis to develop a decentralized autonomous governance framework and link traditional corporate governance theories to blockchain adoption. Furthermore, we explore present and future use cases and implications of blockchains in corporate governance. Using our systematic review and textual analysis, we further identify gaps and common trends between prior academic and industry literature. Moreover, for our empirical analysis, we compile a unique database of blockchain investments to forecast future investments. In addition, we explore blockchain potential in corporate governance during and post COVID-19. We find prior academic articles to mostly focus on regulation (49 studies) and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) (46 studies), while industry articles tend to concentrate on exchanges (10 studies) and cryptocurrencies (9 articles). A significant growth in literature is observed for 2017 and 2018. Finally, we provide behavioural, regulatory, ethical and managerial perspectives of blockchain adoption in corporate governance.

\"Blockchain Governance offers an accessible, critical overview of legal and political issues related to blockchain technology. It moves beyond the hype, showing how blockchain offers a fertile ground for experimentation with radically new ways to govern people and institutions\"-- Provided by publisher.

Blockchain technology is a decentralized database that stores a registry of assets and transactions across a peer-to-peer computer network, which is secured through cryptography, and over time, its history gets locked in blocks of data that are cryptographically linked together and secured. So far, there have been use cases of this technology for cryptocurrencies, digital contracts, financial and public records, and property ownership. It is expected that future uses will expand into medicine, science, education, intellectual property, and supply chain management. Likely applications in the field of medicine could include electronic health records, health insurance, biomedical research, drug supply and procurement processes, and medical education. Utilization of blockchain is not without its weaknesses and currently, this technology is extremely immature and lacks public or even expert knowledge, making it hard to have a clear strategic vision of its true future potential. Presently, there are issues with scalability, security of smart contracts, and user adoption. Nevertheless, with capital investments into blockchain technology projected to reach US$400 million in 2019, health professionals and decision makers should be aware of the transformative potential that blockchain technology offers for healthcare organizations and medical practice.

Blockchain technology is an innovative technology with the potential of transforming cities by augmenting the building of resilient societies and enabling the emergence of more transparent and accountable governments. To understand the capabilities of blockchain, as well as its impact on the public sector, this study conducted a review of blockchain technology and its implementations by various governments around the globe. E-government evolution is analyzed, based on empirical evidence from a Dubai government entity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has utilized blockchain technology for developing end-user services, relevant to the public sector. Benefits achieved and challenges to overcome in such blockchain-based pilot deployments are discussed. The findings of this study offer new insights for practitioners involved in bringing in innovations for the benefit of society, using blockchain technology. Furthermore, it provides insights into policy actions to be developed to address the future challenges and to improve already existing e-government policies. The results of this research will benefit all blockchain-based pilot deployments by providing guidance and knowledge on this immature yet developing technology.

Cryptocurrencies are digital tokens built on blockchain technology. This allows for a product that is fully decentralized, with no need for a third-party intermediary like a government or financial institution. Cryptocurrency creators use initial coin offerings (ICOs) to raise capital to build their tokens. Cryptocurrency ICOs are problematic because they do not fit neatly within either of two traditional categories—securities or commodities. Each of these categories has their own regulatory agency: the SEC for securities and the CFTC for commodities. At first blush, ICOs seem to be a sale of securities subject to regulation by the SEC, but this is far from clear and creates regulatory difficulties. This is because the Howey test, which determines whether an asset is a security or not, does not cleanly apply to nontraditional assets, like tokens. This Note argues for a revised standard that reconciles Howey with cryptocurrencies. This standard would require cryptocurrency creators to show how essential blockchain technology is to their token if they pwant to fall beyond the scope of the Howey test, and consequently SEC regulation. This standard would still preserve regulatory protections from fraud, which the CFTC provides for investors, while loosening regulatory restrictions on the cryptocurrencies that leverage blockchain technology most usefully.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to employ the case of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data repositories to examine the potential of blockchain technology in the context of addressing basic contemporary societal concerns, such as transparency, accountability and trust in the policymaking process. Current approaches to sharing data employ standardized metadata, in which the provider of the service is assumed to be a trusted party. However, derived data, analytic processes or links from policies, are in many cases not shared in the same form, thus breaking the provenance trace and making the repetition of analysis conducted in the past difficult. Similarly, it becomes tricky to test whether certain conditions justifying policies implemented still apply. A higher level of reuse would require a decentralized approach to sharing both data and analytic scripts and software. This could be supported by a combination of blockchain and decentralized file system technology. Design/methodology/approach The findings presented in this paper have been derived from an analysis of a case study, i.e., analytics using data made available by the OECD. The set of data the OECD provides is vast and is used broadly. The argument is structured as follows. First, current issues and topics shaping the debate on blockchain are outlined. Then, a redefinition of the main artifacts on which some simple or convoluted analytic results are based is revised for some concrete purposes. The requirements on provenance, trust and repeatability are discussed with regards to the architecture proposed, and a proof of concept using smart contracts is used for reasoning on relevant scenarios. Findings A combination of decentralized file systems and an open blockchain such as Ethereum supporting smart contracts can ascertain that the set of artifacts used for the analytics is shared. This enables the sequence underlying the successive stages of research and/or policymaking to be preserved. This suggests that, in turn, and ex post, it becomes possible to test whether evidence supporting certain findings and/or policy decisions still hold. Moreover, unlike traditional databases, blockchain technology makes it possible that immutable records can be stored. This means that the artifacts can be used for further exploitation or repetition of results. In practical terms, the use of blockchain technology creates the opportunity to enhance the evidence-based approach to policy design and policy recommendations that the OECD fosters. That is, it might enable the stakeholders not only to use the data available in the OECD repositories but also to assess corrections to a given policy strategy or modify its scope. Research limitations/implications Blockchains and related technologies are still maturing, and several questions related to their use and potential remain underexplored. Several issues require particular consideration in future research, including anonymity, scalability and stability of the data repository. This research took as example OECD data repositories, precisely to make the point that more research and more dialogue between the research and policymaking community is needed to embrace the challenges and opportunities blockchain technology generates. Several questions that this research prompts have not been addressed. For instance, the question of how the sharing economy concept for the specifics of the case could be employed in the context of blockchain has not been dealt with. Practical implications The practical implications of the research presented here can be summarized in two ways. On the one hand, by suggesting how a combination of decentralized file systems and an open blockchain, such as Ethereum supporting smart contracts, can ascertain that artifacts are shared, this paper paves the way toward a discussion on how to make this approach and solution reality. The approach and architecture proposed in this paper would provide a way to increase the scope of the reuse of statistical data and results and thus would improve the effectiveness of decision making as well as the transparency of the evidence supporting policy. Social implications Decentralizing analytic artifacts will add to existing open data practices an additional layer of benefits for different actors, including but not limited to policymakers, journalists, analysts and/or researchers without the need to establish centrally managed institutions. Moreover, due to the degree of decentralization and absence of a single-entry point, the vulnerability of data repositories to cyberthreats might be reduced. Simultaneously, by ensuring that artifacts derived from data based in those distributed depositories are made immutable therein, full reproducibility of conclusions concerning the data is possible. In the field of data-driven policymaking processes, it might allow policymakers to devise more accurate ways of addressing pressing issues and challenges. Originality/value This paper offers the first blueprint of a form of sharing that complements open data practices with the decentralized approach of blockchain and decentralized file systems. The case of OECD data repositories is used to highlight that while data storing is important, the real added value of blockchain technology rests in the possible change on how we use the data and data sets in the repositories. It would eventually enable a more transparent and actionable approach to linking policy up with the supporting evidence. From a different angle, throughout the paper the case is made that rather than simply data, artifacts from conducted analyses should be made persistent in a blockchain. What is at stake is the full reproducibility of conclusions based on a given set of data, coupled with the possibility of ex post testing the validity of the assumptions and evidence underlying those conclusions.

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency based on open-source software created by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. The Bitcoin currency has attracted considerable attention, first among computer scientists and later among businesspeople and the general public. It is being accepted by an increasing number of merchants worldwide; the current market price of Bitcoins is now widely available; and thousands of people worldwide used more than 1.46 terawatt hours of electricity in Bitcoin mining in 2015. Economists have noted the potential for Bitcoin or perhaps a rival cryptocurrency to supplement or even displace fiat currencies. Regulators and policy makers have taken note as well, sometimes responding with regulations not well informed by the realities of Bitcoin (Brito and Castillo 2016).The Bitcoin payment system is based on the blockchain, a permanent record of all transactions maintained on users' computers. The blockchain is a distributed ledger that not only allows the Bitcoin payment system to operate but also opens possibilities for new forms of contracting and cooperation. Tech writers, bloggers, private corporations, government organizations, and economists have begun to notice the economic implications of the blockchain, recognizing that it may far exceed that of Bitcoin itself. As Melanie Swan points out,More important, blockchain technology could become the seamless embedded economic layer the Web has never had, serving as the technological underlay for payments, decentralized exchange, token earning and spending, digital asset invocation and transfer, and smart contract issuance and execution. Bitcoin and blockchain technology, as a mode of decentralization, could be the next major disruptive technology and worldwide computing paradigm (following the mainframe, PC, Internet, and social networking/ mobile phones), with the potential for reconfiguring all human activity as pervasively as did the Web. (2015, vii) In this paper, we offer a framework for evaluating and integrating the various different consequences and impacts of the blockchain for the economy. We apply the public-goods argument for government and a comparative institutional approach to assess the government's and the voluntary sector's ability to produce different individual public goods. The public-goods argument holds that government provision (via taxes and regulation) will be frequently chosen given the limitations of voluntary provision- namely, the free-rider problem. In a comparative institutional framework, however, the imperfections of government must be compared against the effectiveness of voluntary mechanisms. People's willingness to contribute voluntarily to public goods and various mechanisms' ability to convert willingness into effective provision have been labeled \"cooperative efficacy\" (Cowen and Sutter 1999). We interpret the blockchain as a technological innovation that has the potential to increase cooperative efficacy significantly and consequently to reduce the size and scope of government. Toward this end, we provide examples of already existing and potential applications of the blockchain that illustrate cases of increasing voluntary cooperation outside of government-provided public goods. Specifically, we identify three mechanisms stemming from technological properties of the blockchain that help create trust between potential trading partners by replacing the need for a third-party watcher or enforcer of rules: a publicly verifiable ledger, open entry, and decentralization of power through a widely distributed mining network as well as the open-source nature of the underlying code. The blockchain thus allows the creation of trust without the need for a concrete third-party watcher who has vested authority and impartiality that the potential traders must trust. We do not discuss the factors affecting whether the scope of governments will actually expand or contract. Blockchain innovations will reduce the need for government to provide certain public goods or types of regulation on behalf of citizens, but this does not mean that the scope of government will immediately shrink. Entrenched interests benefiting from government provision or the regulatory status quo could conceivably block privatization or deregulation regardless of the blockchain's potential. The blockchain does, however, offer significant potential for de facto or unauthorized privatization of current government activities, as perhaps best illustrated by the potential for Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency to serve as a medium of exchange without government permission. Thus, the blockchain and its applications could also bring about significant disruption of the status quo despite entrenched interests' efforts. We focus, however, primarily on their tremendous potential for voluntary society.

Objective: The general objective of this study is to model the implementation of a blockchain system for solid wastemanagement in a government agency. The specific objectives of the results are to identify the main challenges in implementing a blockchain system for solid waste management in Public Management (1); characterize the blockchain models identified in this investigation (2); and develop a blockchain system model for solid waste management in a government agency (3).   Theoretical Framework: The Theory of New Public Management, discussed in Madan and Ashok (2022), is the basis of this study, considering the notes of these authors, who address the dominant paradigm in public administration.   Method: This research has a qualitative or mixed approach, as it includes parametric elements based on architecture such as blockchain, supported by bibliographical research and documentary analysis. The bibliographical research was based on elements of an integrated solid waste management system, through a framework, as conceptualized in the specific topic of this study. The Content Analysis method was used to research documents and other textual or audiovisual databases on solid waste management and blockchain technology. This research method allowed us to extract relevant information from the data collected, organize it into thematic categories, and interpret it in light of the theoretical framework obtained. By applying Content Analysis, patterns, meanings, and nuances were identified that could enrich the understanding of the phenomenon studied, ensuring an in-depth and contextualized analysis.   Results and Discussion: The scenario of research on solid waste management in Brazil is marked by significantchallenges that reflect the complexity of the country's socioeconomic and environmental context. According to Agência Brasil (2023), the generation of solid waste has increased alarmingly, with data from 2021 indicating that more than 80 million tons were produced, of which only 32.5% were correctly disposed of. Thisreality highlights the urgent need for effective and innovative public policies that address integrated waste management. Research Implications: The relevance of implementing a blockchain system in public governance is highlighted, considering the growing demand for innovative and sustainable solutions.   Originality/Value: This study is of interest to government managers, academics involved in applied research onblockchain in waste management, politicians and other leaders committed to excellence in management, and other professionals committed to promising results in the relationship between innovation and sustainability in organizations.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the main insights current literature offers regarding initial coin offerings (ICOs) and the avenues for future research.Design/methodology/approachThe approach consists of a systematic literature review of 130 papers from the SCOPUS database published in English between January 2018 and December 2020, with supplemental semantic analysis of the abstracts to obtain key themes and concepts.FindingsRegulation and the determinants of ICO success are the main themes for current research and represent fruitful areas of continued scholarship. The research agenda in ICOs is just beginning and several topics and questions merit future inquiry: the behaviour of issuers and investors, the importance of human capital, the role of intermediaries and infomediaries and the use of signalling.Originality/valueTo the knowledge, this is one of the first systematic studies of current literature in ICOs. It provides a roadmap for future work on a phenomenon that will only grow in significance.