Doctoral Dissertation Research: Blockchain and the Frontiers of Provenance and Risk in the Cattle Ranching Industry

博士论文研究：区块链以及养牛业的来源和风险前沿

• 批准号: 2049602
• 负责人: John Collins
• 金额: $ 2.66万
• 依托单位: CUNY Graduate School University Center
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-05-15 至 2025-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2049602&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Blockchain; Frontiers

This doctoral dissertation research project investigates contemporary means of recording and accounting for ownership and responsibility by exploring cattle ranchers’ use of technology in animal husbandry. The researcher will focus on U.S. ranches that have adopted blockchain, the record-keeping mechanism underlying cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Agriculture is among the first sectors of the U.S. economy to implement blockchain in real-world cases unrelated to cryptocurrency. Historically, ranchers have proven ownership and controlled movement of cattle through a combination of branding and barbed wire, both of which had significant social impacts beyond cattle husbandry. Beef producers are now testing blockchain’s promise of making detailed transactional information publicly available, aiming to enable consumers to self-verify the provenance and quality of their food rather than placing trust in often opaque supply chains. This project, which trains a graduate student in methods of scientific data collection and analysis, explores the motivations and potential social ramifications of cutting-edge technology adoption. The project tests the hypothesis that the infrastructure of meat production is primarily organized around notions of risk. Some uncertainties inherent to food production, such as weather, are practically impossible to predict; others, such as predation loss or negligence liability, are to a greater extent predictable. Predictable losses can be quantified as risk and thus managed through insurance or other means of transfer. The investigator will perform observational research among cowhands, conduct interviews with lawmakers and technology promoters, and undertake archival research, inquiring into the context and motivation for the use of branding, barbed wire, and blockchain as provenance technologies that increase certainty of ownership. This inquiry will reveal the distribution of risk across the beef supply chain, including who bears the burdens of risk and who is able to leverage it to generate value. The research will contribute to a greater understanding of how risk is conceived of and commodified. The far-reaching impacts of such an understanding include the safety of the US meat supply, the general configuration of supply chains, and the relationship between agricultural innovation and notions of ownership and responsibility with respect to property.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该博士论文研究项目通过探索养牛场主在畜牧业中使用技术来研究当代记录和核算所有权和责任的方法，研究人员将重点关注采用区块链（比特币等加密货币的记录保存机制）的美国牧场。农业是美国经济中最早在与加密货币无关的现实世界中实施区块链的部门之一。从历史上看，牧场主通过品牌和铁丝网的结合证明了牛的所有权和控制流动，这两者都具有重要的社会意义。牛肉生产商现在正在测试区块链公开提供详细交易信息的承诺，旨在使消费者能够自我验证其食品的来源和质量，而不是信任通常不透明的供应链。科学数据收集和分析方法的研究生，探讨了采用尖端技术的动机和潜在的社会影响，该项目测试了肉类生产基础设施主要围绕食品固有的一些不确定性概念进行组织的假设。生产，例如天气，实际上是不可能预测的；其他损失，例如捕食损失或疏忽责任，在更大程度上是可预测的，可以量化为风险，从而通过保险或其他转移方式进行管理。对牧牛人进行研究，采访立法者和技术推广者，并进行档案研究，调查使用品牌、铁丝网和区块链作为提高所有权确定性的起源技术的背景和动机。这项调查将揭示所有权的分布。所有权风险。该研究将有助于更好地理解风险是如何被设想和商品化的，包括谁承担风险负担以及谁能够利用风险产生价值。美国肉类供应的安全、供应链的总体配置以及农业创新与所有权和财产责任概念之间的关系。该奖项授予 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力评估进行评估，认为值得支持优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。