IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfinec/v162y2024ics0304405x24001740.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Token-based platform governance

Author

Listed:
  • Abadi, Joseph
  • Brunnermeier, Markus

Abstract

We develop a model to compare the governance of traditional shareholder-owned platforms to that of platforms that issue tokens. A traditional shareholder governance structure leads a platform to extract rents from its users. A platform that issues tokens for its services can mitigate this rent extraction, as rent extraction lowers the platform owners’ token seigniorage revenues. However, this mitigation from issuing “service tokens” is effective only if the platform can commit itself not to dilute the “service token” subsequently. Issuing “hybrid tokens” that bundle claims on the platform’s services and its profits enhances efficiency even absent ex-ante commitment power. Finally, giving users the right to vote on platform policies, by contrast, redistributes surplus but does not necessarily enhance efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Abadi, Joseph & Brunnermeier, Markus, 2024. "Token-based platform governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:162:y:2024:i:c:s0304405x24001740
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2024.103951
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304405X24001740
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jfineco.2024.103951?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Itay Goldstein & Deeksha Gupta & Ruslan Sverchkov, 2024. "Utility Tokens as a Commitment to Competition," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(6), pages 4197-4246, December.
    2. Anat R. Admati & Peter M. Demarzo & Martin F. Hellwig & Paul Pfleiderer, 2018. "The Leverage Ratchet Effect," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(1), pages 145-198, February.
    3. Bruno Biais & Christophe Bisière & Matthieu Bouvard & Catherine Casamatta & Albert J. Menkveld, 2023. "Equilibrium Bitcoin Pricing," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 78(2), pages 967-1014, April.
    4. Doron Levit & Nadya Malenko & Ernst Maug, 2024. "Trading and Shareholder Democracy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(1), pages 257-304, February.
    5. Williamson, Oliver E, 1979. "Transaction-Cost Economics: The Governance of Contractural Relations," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(2), pages 233-261, October.
    6. Aghion, Philippe & Tirole, Jean, 1997. "Formal and Real Authority in Organizations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 1-29, February.
    7. Gerry Tsoukalas & Brett Hemenway Falk, 2020. "Token-Weighted Crowdsourcing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(9), pages 3843-3859, September.
    8. Grossman, Sanford J & Hart, Oliver D, 1986. "The Costs and Benefits of Ownership: A Theory of Vertical and Lateral Integration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(4), pages 691-719, August.
    9. Kenneth Rogoff & Yang Yous, 2023. "Redeemable Platform Currencies," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(2), pages 975-1008.
    10. Feenstra, Robert C., 1986. "Functional equivalence between liquidity costs and the utility of money," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 271-291, March.
    11. Hart, Oliver & Moore, John, 1998. "Cooperatives vs. outside ownership," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19360, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Hansmann, Henry, 1988. "Ownership of the Firm," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 267-304, Fall.
    13. repec:ner:ucllon:http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/17678/ is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Lin William Cong & Ye Li & Neng Wang, 2021. "Tokenomics: Dynamic Adoption and Valuation [The demand of liquid assets with uncertain lumpy expenditures]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(3), pages 1105-1155.
    15. Peter M. Demarzo & Zhiguo He, 2021. "Leverage Dynamics without Commitment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(3), pages 1195-1250, June.
    16. Cong, Lin William & Li, Ye & Wang, Neng, 2022. "Token-based platform finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(3), pages 972-991.
    17. Jeongmin Lee & Christine A Parlour, 2022. "Consumers as Financiers: Consumer Surplus, Crowdfunding, and Initial Coin Offerings," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(3), pages 1105-1140.
    18. Gryglewicz, Sebastian & Mayer, Simon & Morellec, Erwan, 2021. "Optimal financing with tokens," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(3), pages 1038-1067.
    19. Jiri Chod & Evgeny Lyandres, 2021. "A Theory of ICOs: Diversification, Agency, and Information Asymmetry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(10), pages 5969-5989, October.
    20. Michael Sockin & Wei Xiong, 2023. "Decentralization through Tokenization," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 78(1), pages 247-299, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bhambhwani, Siddharth M. & Huang, Allen H., 2024. "Auditing decentralized finance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(2).
    2. Rodney Garratt & Maarten RC van Oordt, 2024. "Crypto Exchange Tokens," BIS Working Papers 1201, Bank for International Settlements.
    3. Zhang, Xu & Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Du, Yuting & Rauf, Abdul, 2024. "Examining the bidirectional ripple effects in the NFT markets: Risky center or hedging center?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    4. Itay Goldstein & Deeksha Gupta & Ruslan Sverchkov, 2024. "Utility Tokens as a Commitment to Competition," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(6), pages 4197-4246, December.
    5. Maarten R.C. van Oordt, 2024. "On Bubbles in Cryptocurrency Prices," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 24-050/IV, Tinbergen Institute.
    6. Allen, Franklin & Barbalau, Adelina, 2024. "Security design: A review," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    7. Yannis Bakos & Hanna Halaburda, 2022. "Overcoming the Coordination Problem in New Marketplaces via Cryptographic Tokens," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(4), pages 1368-1385, December.
    8. Anton Miglo, 2022. "Choice between IEO and ICO: Speed vs. Liquidity vs. Risk," FinTech, MDPI, vol. 1(3), pages 1-18, September.
    9. Verdier, Marianne, 2024. "Digital payments and bank competition," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    10. Berger, Allen N. & Miller, Nathan H. & Petersen, Mitchell A. & Rajan, Raghuram G. & Stein, Jeremy C., 2005. "Does function follow organizational form? Evidence from the lending practices of large and small banks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 237-269, May.
    11. Raghuram G. Rajan & Luigi Zingales, 1998. "Power in a Theory of the Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(2), pages 387-432.
    12. Alessandro De Chiara, 2018. "Courts' Decisions, Cooperative Investments, and Incomplete Contracts," CEU Working Papers 2018_5, Department of Economics, Central European University.
    13. Rey, Patrick & Tirole, Jean, 2007. "Financing and access in cooperatives," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 1061-1088, October.
    14. Ngo Van Long & Antoine Soubeyran & Raphael Soubeyran, 2014. "Knowledge Accumulation Within An Organization," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1089-1128, November.
    15. Ngo Van Long & Antoine Soubeyran & Raphael Soubeyran, 2014. "Knowledge acquisition within an organization: How to retain a knowledge worker using wage profile and non-monotonic knowledge accumulation," CIRANO Working Papers 2014s-32, CIRANO.
    16. Mikami, Kazuhiko, 2003. "Market power and the form of enterprise: capitalist firms, worker-owned firms and consumer cooperatives," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 52(4), pages 533-552, December.
    17. Yeon-Koo Che & József Sákovics, 2004. "A Dynamic Theory of Holdup," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 72(4), pages 1063-1103, July.
    18. Jiri Chod & Nikolaos Trichakis & S. Alex Yang, 2022. "Platform Tokenization: Financing, Governance, and Moral Hazard," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(9), pages 6411-6433, September.
    19. Tomas Mantecon & Kyojik Song & Haowen Luo, 2016. "The Control and Performance of Joint Ventures," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 45(2), pages 431-465, May.
    20. Andrea Canidio, 2023. "Auctions with Tokens: Monetary Policy as a Mechanism Design Choice," Papers 2301.13794, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2023.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:162:y:2024:i:c:s0304405x24001740. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505576 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.