Socio-technical phenomena involving blockchain use: Literature review, conceptual framework, and research agenda

Abstract

This paper reviews the emerging literature on blockchain, structuring key insights in a conceptual framework and setting out a research agenda from a socio-technical and information systems (IS) perspective. The review covers 234 blockchain-focused papers across IS, management, computer science and related fields. It categorises blockchain use into three main types and reframes blockchain use within the socio-technical phenomena of which it is a part. This broader framework enables us to aggregate, integrate and synthesise knowledge about blockchain, its values, drivers and barriers, social and technical subsystem(s), as well as potential consequences, both intended and unintended. Using this framework as a basis for analysis, we identify gaps in the existing blockchain literature and outline a research agenda for advancing blockchain studies within the IS field.