Corporations on Blockchain: Opportunities & Challenges

Abstract

Blockchain technology has the potential to change the way corporations are managed and how they function. A system that offers greater decentralization and ability for shareholders to more actively and accurately engage in decision-making processes will be fundamental for modern corporate governance. We observe that shareholders in recent years have become more active and interested in corporate matters of the companies that they have invested. Decades after Berle & Means elemental publication, the division between the investment and control pertains. Often, because of the existing architecture of the system. Yet, the architecture is changing and blockchain represents a new component. Shareholders could thanks to the technological development strengthen their voice and be part of the long-term corporate decisions. Could technology be the answer to the long-lasting division between corporations and their investors as well as the division between investment shareholders and retail shareholder? If we organized a corporation and its information and decision-making mechanisms based on a new technology that promotes collaboration and can easily encompass incentive mechanisms, we might have a tool to provide more efficiency and transparency and even potentially address the values (or a lack of them) that today govern of our corporate system. This article provides an analysis on opportunities and potential challenges of using blockchain for the purposes of corporate governance in publicly traded corporation. Beside the inquiry into the technology behind blockchain, the article reflects the value, if any, the blockchain technology would have for the shareholders and suggests how the technology could be used in publicly traded companies.

Keywords: blockchain, corporate governance, shareholders, transparency, efficiency