A systematic review of blockchain

Abstract

Blockchain is considered by many to be a disruptive core technology. Although many researchers have realized the importance of blockchain, the research of blockchain is still in its infancy. Consequently, this study reviews the current academic research on blockchain, especially in the subject area of business and economics. Based on a systematic review of the literature retrieved from the Web of Science service, we explore the top-cited articles, most productive countries, and most common keywords. Additionally, we conduct a clustering analysis and identify the following five research themes: "economic benefit," "blockchain technology," "initial coin offerings," "fintech revolution," and "sharing economy." Recommendations on future research directions and practical applications are also provided in this paper.

A critical review on blockchain assessment initiatives: A technology evolution viewpoint

“…In this sense, the only paper that defines an adoption path is Wang et al 35 while Kharitonov 41 presents some aspects to take into consideration as blockchain‐based solutions evolve over time, but not a fully constructed evolution path in the adoption. However, blockchain adoption should be carefully evaluated depending on a company's sector and business goals 14,15 . Finally, regarding blockchain waves , this aspect is somehow covered in just two papers, namely, Angelis and Ribeiro da Silva 13 and Wang et al 35 but not fully explained or developed using the current waves description.…”

“…The rest of the initiatives are not considering the different blockchain waves in their proposals. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that the features of each blockchain wave impact on the potential value of blockchain use as a whole 13 and its application field 14,15 . The first analysis of results leads to a scenario in which current initiatives are not fulfilling all aspects.…”

“…However, as the hype in blockchain technology advanced, Blockchain 3.0 expands the blockchain focus further to incorporate decentralized applications 13 . Blockchain 3.0 is aimed to popularize blockchain‐based solutions expanding the traditional sectors (finance, goods transactions, and so on) to government, supply chain management, smart energy, health, market monitoring, and education 14,15 . Therefore, the applications of blockchain have evolved to much wider scopes.…”

Exploring the Research Fronts of Fintech: A Scientometric Analysis

“…The discussions on Fintech appears to be growing, and some literature review articles do exist [4][5][6][7][8][9]. However, most of them focused on one aspect or one element of fintech, such as financial service, crowdfunding, blockchain, regulatory environment, underlying risks, information technology services, etc.…”

Blockchain and business ethics

“…Many second-and third-generation blockchains, however, are so programmed as to reduce or prevent that problem-or even make a net positive contribution to energy conservation, as is the case with "Solar Coin" (Dierksmeier & Seele, 2016).Academic literature has accordingly begun to look beyond cryptocurrencies and turn its attention toward blockchain technology in general. There is a plethora of work (for a recent overview see Klarin, 2020or Xu, Chen, & Kou, 2019) from the angle of information technology, computer science, and network theory. Less ample but also fast growing is the literature on juridical questions, on political regulation, and on the industrial governance of the technology.What lacks, thus far, are analyses from a business ethics perspective, though; a gap we wish to address in this paper.After outlining the ethical unfavorable and favorable applications, we introduce three exemplary topics demonstrating the ethical ambivalence of certain blockchain applications: the role of trust, job platforms, and the impact on privacy and secrecy.…”