Introduction to the Special Section

Abstract

This special section presents four papers that seek to advance an understanding of the economic characteristics and implications of blockchain. Blockchain represents a digital public ledger of economic and financial transactions and other information, combining peer-to-peer network computing and cryptography techniques with the intention of creating ledgers that combine data access and use in a distributed and secure manner.Recent experiences attest to the notion that blockchain has emerged as a site for buoyant innovation and experimentation. Commonly conceived as the digital infrastructure supporting cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, an important feature of blockchain development in recent years has been the discoveries and uses of this technology in diverse areas of economic and financial endeavour necessitating the recording, storage and validation of data for the benefit of many actors across space and time. This special section of Economic Papers aims to illustrate different aspects of blockchain development with the potential of unleashing new forms of economic value through improved data management protocols.Arguably, one of the unanticipated consequences of blockchain, a technology not much longer than a decade in its existence, is its reinforcement of the predominant role and contribution of data in our knowledge-based economies and societies. It is no exaggeration to submit that the procession of ledger technologiessuch as literacy and numeracy, double-entry bookkeeping and, now, digital databases such as blockchainhas facilitated the development of modern economic, social and political infrastructure such as firms, markets, bureaucracies and governments. Blockchain also contrasts vintage ledger technologies, whether paper-based or maintained by in-house databases, which are largely reliant upon hierarchical, third-party trust mechanisms for their maintenance and security.The implications of blockchain noted here have two broad implications for the Australian economy, as well as for the broader Asia-Pacific region and the world. This technological development could either challenge existing ways of doing business and managing the economy by virtue of its disruptive potential, or corporate managers and policy-makers alike could constructively explore ways to incorporate blockchain into their operations and practices. The papers in this special section illuminate the opportunities and challenges arising from blockchain development and adoption.We now turn to a brief description of the papers in this special section. One of the core challenges in redressing the climate change problem is the need to develop more accurate, finely grained data of greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to rising global temperatures, particularly when multiple economic agents contribute to greenhouse gases on a global, extra-territorial scale. In their paper, Hartmann and Thomas (2020) consider the potential of blockchain to manage data flows, with respect to recorded traces of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas, wi...