Corporate Governance and Blockchains

David Yermack

doi:10.1093/rof/rfw074

Review of Finance Vol. 21 No. 1 2017

Corporate Governance and Blockchains

David Yermack^{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11}

¹ National Bureau of Economic Research · ² University of South Australia · ³ The University of Western Australia · ⁴ University of Cambridge · ⁵ UNSW Sydney · ⁶ University of Bristol · ⁷ Bank of England · ⁸ The University of Adelaide · ⁹ Cardiff University · ¹⁰ University of Amsterdam · ¹¹ Erasmus University Rotterdam

Abstract

Blockchains represent a novel application of cryptography and information technology to age-old problems of financial record-keeping, and they may lead to far-reaching changes in corporate governance. Many major players in the financial industry have began to invest in this new technology, and stock exchanges have proposed using blockchains as a new method for trading corporate equities and tracking their ownership. This essay evaluates the potential implications of these changes for managers, institutional investors, small shareholders, auditors, and other parties involved in corporate governance. The lower cost, greater liquidity, more accurate record-keeping, and transparency of ownership offered by blockchains may significantly upend the balance of power among these cohorts.

DOI: 10.1093/rof/rfw074
Volume: 21
Issue: 1
Pages: 7-31
Language: en
Sources: bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Corporate Governance and Blockchains

Abstract

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