A NEW INSTITUTIONAL PARADIGM: A MULTI-LEVEL ANALYSIS OF BLOCKCHAIN, INCENTIVES, AND COORDINATION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

THIS DISSERTATION INVESTIGATES WHETHER BLOCKCHAIN CAN BE MEANINGFULLY CONCEPTUALIZED AS AN INSTITUTIONAL TECHNOLOGY AND HOW SUCH A PERSPECTIVE MAY HELP EXPLAIN ITS EVOLVING ROLE IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR. WHILE BLOCKCHAIN IS OFTEN PROMOTED FOR ITS POTENTIAL TO ENHANCE TRANSPARENCY, EFFICIENCY, AND TRUST IN GOVERNMENT SERVICES, LARGE-SCALE ADOPTION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR REMAINS LIMITED, SUGGESTING THAT TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION ALONE MAY NOT BE SUFFICIENT TO DRIVE TRANSFORMATION. DRAWING ON INSIGHTS FROM INNOVATION STUDIES, INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS, ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY, AND COMPUTER SCIENCE, THE RESEARCH ADOPTS A MULTI-LEVEL ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK TO EXAMINE HOW BLOCKCHAIN’S TECHNOLOGICAL FEATURES INTERSECT WITH GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES, ORGANIZATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS, AND INCENTIVE MECHANISMS. ACROSS FIVE INTERCONNECTED STUDIES, THE WORK HIGHLIGHTS THAT BLOCKCHAIN’S TRAJECTORY IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR APPEARS STRONGLY SHAPED BY INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS. A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW IDENTIFIES BARRIERS ROOTED NOT ONLY IN TECHNICAL CHALLENGES BUT ALSO IN REGULATORY UNCERTAINTY, ORGANIZATIONAL RESISTANCE, AND CAPABILITY GAPS. A CROSS-COUNTRY EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS SUGGESTS THAT BLOCKCHAIN DIFFUSION CORRELATES MORE CLOSELY WITH INDICATORS OF GOVERNANCE QUALITY AND INSTITUTIONAL READINESS THAN WITH CONVENTIONAL DRIVERS OF TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION, POINTING TO A DIFFUSION PATTERN DISTINCT FROM THAT OF MORE ESTABLISHED GENERAL-PURPOSE TECHNOLOGIES. A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL MODEL ENABLED BY BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY - HERE LABELLED AS THE V-FORM - PROVIDES A CONCEPTUAL LENS FOR UNDERSTANDING HOW DECENTRALIZED COORDINATION STRUCTURES MAY EMERGE. COMPLEMENTARY ANALYSES OF CONSENSUS MECHANISMS AND VALIDATOR INCENTIVES FURTHER SUGGEST THAT BLOCKCHAIN’S TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE CAN PERFORM GOVERNANCE FUNCTIONS BY EMBEDDING RULES AND INCENTIVE STRUCTURES DIRECTLY INTO SOFTWARE PROTOCOLS. TAKEN TOGETHER, THE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT BLOCKCHAIN MAY BE VIEWED NOT ONLY AS A DIGITAL TOOL BUT ALSO AS A POTENTIAL INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATION WHOSE PROSPECTS DEPEND ON THE ALIGNMENT BETWEEN TECHNICAL DESIGN AND INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT. THIS PERSPECTIVE OFFERS BOTH CONCEPTUAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICYMAKERS SEEKING TO NAVIGATE THE FUTURE OF BLOCKCHAIN IN PUBLIC-SECTOR GOVERNANCE.