Decentralized Autonomous Organizations — Evolution, Practice, and Prospects

Proceedings of the 3rd European DAO Workshop (DAWO), Winterthur, Switzerland, 2026
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-3-032-40009-3
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, 248 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm

Reihe: Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics

This open access book explores the transformative world of DAOs, where decentralized governance meets blockchain technology. Based on a competitive peer-reviewed selection of papers presented at the third European DAO Workshop at ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Winterthur, Switzerland in 2026, this book provides an in-depth analysis of the current state of DAO research.

This volume captures the forefront of DAO scholarship, exploring innovative models of coordination, participation, and accountability across social, technical, and legal dimensions. Contributors examine how decentralized systems challenge traditional hierarchies, balance autonomy with governance, and interact with existing institutional frameworks.Through an interdisciplinary lens, spanning computer science, law, economics, and organizational studies, the book shed light on both the promise and paradoxes of decentralization. It offers fresh insights into legitimacy, inclusivity, and innovation within self-governing digital communities.
Engaging, rigorous, and forward-looking, it continues the European DAO Workshop series’ mission to chart the evolving landscape of decentralized governance. As such, it is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of organizations, collective action, and digital society.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Spychiger, Florian

Küng, Lukas

Lustenberger, Michael

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Organisationstheorie, Organisationssoziologie, Organisationspsychologie
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Wirtschaftstheorie, Wirtschaftsphilosophie
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Daten / Datenbanken
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Technische Informatik Computersicherheit Kryptographie, Datenverschlüsselung
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Professionelle Anwendung
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Wirtschaftsmathematik und -statistik
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Unternehmensorganisation, Corporate Responsibility Unternehmenskultur, Corporate Governance

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Can Consultation Be a DAO? Co-Creation and Conflict Restructuring in Swiss E-ID Reforms.- 2. Cardinal Preference Aggregation with Multi-Layer Veto Mechanisms for DAO Governance: A Machine-Verified Approach.- 3. Democratic Treasury Governance Without Plutocracy: Proof-of-Personhood Voting for DAO Resource Allocation.- 4. Decision Debt: A Framework for Reasoning about Avoidable Information Loss in Collective Decision Procedures for DAO Governance.- 5. Seeking Money or Meaning? Exploring Sustained Contributions to Decentralized Governance on Digital Platforms.- 6. Toward a Defensive Social Layer for Ethereum: Legitimacy, Reputation, and Capital Allocation Through a Network of Third Places.- 7. The Entangled Wet Medium: Digital Ritual and Limits of Ocean-Focused Art DAOs.- 8. The Logic of AI-Karma: Systems Engineering Perspectives on Autonomous DAO Ethics.- 9. DAOs as Living Legal Systems: From Bio-Inspired Metaphor to Operational Governance Architecture.- 10. Re-Architecting Higher Education for University 5.0: A Comprehensive DAO-Based Framework for Decentralized Governance, Verifiable Credentials, Tokenomics, and AI-Native Learning Ecosystems.- 11. Structuring DAOs: A Holacracy-Inspired Framework for Adaptive and Accountable Day-to-Day Operational Structure.- 12. AI-Powered Oracles as Constitutive Infrastructure for Investment Activity in DAOs: The AI Act and Sectoral Financial Market Regulation.- 13. Beyond Digital Governance: Empirical Governance Challenges of Physical DAOs in the Built Environment.- 14. Decentralization: The Search for a Legal Definition.

Über Autor(innen)

Michael Lustenberger is a senior researcher and lecturer at ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland) and an expert in blockchain technology and DAOs. Holding a DBA from Middlesex University London (UK), his research focuses on the organizational design and governance of decentralized business applications and decentralized decision-making in virtual communities.
Florian Spychiger is a senior researcher and lecturer at the ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland). He specializes in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and blockchain governance. With a PhD in Management & Economics from the University of Zurich (Switzerland), his work focuses on organizational design and incentivization within blockchain-based systems.
Lukas Küng is a research associate at ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland) and Ph.D. candidate in Business Administration at the University of Nicosia (Cyprus). His research focuses on DAOs, exploring their impact on business values in the context of Web3.