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Using a polycentric governance lens, we contribute to the literature on technology-enabled forms of organizing with a model explaining the transformational potential of DAOs to facilitate collective action in digital commons. Our study highlights that (1) DAOs are a new form of organizing enabled by blockchain technology in which individuals are free to pursue their objectives within a general system of rules enforced by smart contracts, (2) collective action for managing digital commons can be sustained through a set of three mechanisms\u2014sustained participation, collective direction, and scaled organizing, and (3) DAOs tend to strike a balance between centralized and fully decentralized or community-based governance by implementing a polycentric governance system involving a combination of human and machine agency that creates skin in the game.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.25300\/misq\/2023\/17690","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,13]],"date-time":"2024-05-13T16:59:37Z","timestamp":1715619577000},"page":"245-272","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":43,"title":["Skin in the Game: The Transformational Potential of Decentralized Autonomous 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