Blockchain and the emergence of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs): An integrative model and research agenda

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are blockchain-based organizations fed by a peer-to-peer (P2P) network of contributors. Their management is decentralized without top executive teams and built on automated rules encoded in smart contracts, and their governance works autonomously based on a combination of on-chain and off-chain mechanisms that support community decision-making. A growing body of literature has emerged exploring DAOs. However, there is a considerable lack of clarity about this organizational design and its theoretical conceptualization. To this end, we undertake an integrative literature review that reveals three main principles-decentralized, automated and autonomous organizations-and the following four theoretical perspectives mainly adopted to examine this novel organizational form: transaction cost theory, institutions for collective action, agency theory, and socio-materiality. By extending these theories, we propose an integrative model of DAO for research and theory building. Our contribution provides conceptual clarity and proposes a framework for future research directions.