Three Essays on the Blockchain-enabled Token Economy

Abstract

Over the past decade, blockchain has evolved from a niche technological innovation into the foundation of a rapidly expanding token economy. Positioned at the frontier of the next industrial revolution, the blockchain-enabled token economy has often been highlighted as offering significant business potential. However, whether and how this potential translates into actual business value for firms remains ambiguous and underexplored. This doctoral thesis seeks to advance understanding of the business value of the blockchain-enabled token economy by examining its impacts across distinct yet interrelated domains through three empirical essays.
The first essay examines the impact of firms’ announcements with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on their market value. Using an event study approach, the analysis reveals that NFT announcements yield positive abnormal stock returns. A fixed effects model further reveals the role of moderating factors. Specifically, firms adopting co-development partnership strategies capture fewer gains, whereas those leveraging NFTs to enhance or tokenise intellectual property achieve greater value when the co-development partnership is introduced.
The second essay examines the impact of focal firms’ NFT announcements on the market value of their suppliers. Results from the event study indicate that suppliers benefit from the NFT announcements of focal firms. A fixed effects model further demonstrates that suppliers with higher research and development (R&D) intensity benefit more from the focal firm’s NFT announcements, whereas the focal firm's R&D intensity has a negative impact on suppliers' market value. Moreover, the positive impact increases when downstream focal firms possess greater financial slack.
The third essay examines the impact of pro-blockchain legislation on firms’ corporate environmental performance (CEP). Leveraging a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) design, the essay finds that firms incorporated in U.S. states that adopted pro-blockchain legislation experience a significant decline in CEP. Moreover, the analysis shows that stakeholder heterogeneity moderates this relationship. The negative impact is more pronounced among firms with higher institutional ownership, while firms led by long-term-oriented top management teams (TMTs) demonstrate improved CEP.
Collectively, these essays provide a nuanced understanding of the blockchain-enabled token economy by elucidating its financial and environmental implications. The findings contribute theoretical insights into the management of complex technological innovations and offer practical guidance for firms and policymakers navigating this emerging phenomenon.

Date of Award	17 Mar 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Sponsors	China Scholarship Council
Supervisor	Minhao Zhang (Supervisor) & Richard Owen (Supervisor)