Deconstructing Shared Governance Platforms: Configurations for Platform Continuity in Data Spaces

Academy of Management Proceedings, vol. 2026

Abstract

Digital platforms have become dominant economic institutions facing increasing criticism for their power asymmetries and centralized control. Consequently, shared governance platforms (SGPs) have emerged as an alternative. SGPs distribute decision and control rights among participants to ensure fair governance and value capture. A prominent form of SGP is data spaces: a federated platform that enables multiple organizations to share, access, and use data in a trusted and interoperable manner. Despite their appeal (participants retain sovereignty over their data assets) and ample support from the European Commission, many data spaces are facing a severe survival crisis: few have survived their initial stage. Hence, this study investigates whether specific SGP configurations support continuity. Using a qualitative-inductive mixed-method approach, we analyze a sample of 39 data spaces to develop a comprehensive taxonomy of design features of SGPs and apply fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to identify configurations for continuity. Results show that data spaces decouple data from platform governance, operating along a monocentric-to-polycentric continuum. Data spaces that successfully reach platform continuity grant individual decision rights as an incentive to mitigate uncertainty and secure participant commitment during the initial stages. However, this strategy may conflict with requirements for collective ecosystem value as these platforms mature. By revealing these nuances, our study paves the way for new research on the evolutionary pathways and stabilization of shared governance structures.

Authors 3

1. Joana Piel Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University

2. Frank T. Piller Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University

3. Dirk Lüttgens Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University