Kevin Werbach

• Legal, regulatory, and governance aspects of blockchain and cryptocurrencies
• Regulation of emerging digital platforms and services
• Ethical and legal implications of artificial intelligence and business analytics

LGST 2420/6420: Big Data, Big Responsibilities

LGST 6120: Responsibility in Business

LGST 2440/6440: Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies

All Courses

• LGST2220 - Internet Law Priv Cyber

  This course examines the complex and often novel legal issues surrounding the development and current state of the Internet, information privacy, and cybersecurity. Topics include federal- and state-level regulation and enforcement of Internet and privacy legal concepts, data breaches, online privacy protections, how to legally manage a borderless Internet, and the liability of intermediaries such as network operators, social media services, and search engines.

• LGST2420 - Big Data, Big Responsibilities

  Artificial intelligence, and related forms of algorithmic decision-making and analytics, are already beginning to transform business, and beyond. With the immense power of these tools, however, comes tremendous responsibility. Problems of accuracy, liability, transparency, bias and discrimination, data protection, job displacement, manipulation, misinformation, and intellectual property violations are already prominent. Major government actors around the world are rapidly adopting new legislation and other obligations. This course identifies the major issues of AI accountability that organizations must consider, as well as the operational, legal compliance, ethical, and technical steps they can take to address them.

• LGST2440 - Blockchain/Cryptocurrenc

  Blockchain techonology is a form of decentralized database that allows for the secure exchange of value without reliance on trusted intermediaries. Blockchain is the foundation for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, as well as for distributed ledger platforms used by enterprise consortia in various industries. Many believe that blockchain solutions have revolutionary potential. They promise to replace legal enforcement with technical mechanisms of cryptographic consensus as the means of generating trust. The technology has generated significant excitement, investment, and entrepreneurial activity in recent years. However, the business value of blockchain-based solutions is uncertain, cryptocurrency valuations are speculative, and there are serious legal, regulatory, and governance challenges to be addressed. This course is designed to give students the tools for critical assessment of ongoing developments in this evolving area.

• LGST2990 - Seminar in Law & Society

  A study of the nature, functions, and limits of law as an agency of societal policy. Each semester an area of substantive law is studied for the purpose of examining the relationship between legal norms developed and developing in the area and societal problems and needs. Please see department for current offerings.

• LGST6110 - Resp in Global Mgmt

  This course uses the global business context to introduce students to important legal, ethical and cultural challenges they will face as business leaders. Cases and materials will address how business leaders, constrained by law and motivated to act responsibly in a global context, should analyze relevant variables to make wise decisions. Topics will include an introduction to the basic theoretical frameworks used in the analysis of ethical issues, such as right-based, consequentialist-based, and virtue-based reasoning, and conflicting interpretations of corporate responsibility. The course will include materials that introduce students to basic legal (common law vs. civil law) and normative (human rights) regimes at work in the global economy as well as sensitize them to the role of local cultural traditions in global business activity. Topics may also include such issues as comparative forms of corporate governance, bribery and corruption in global markets, human rights issues, diverse legal compliance systems, corporate responses to global poverty, global environmental responsibilities, and challenges arising when companies face conflicting ethical demands between home and local, host country mores. The pedagogy emphasizes globalized cases, exercises, and theoretical materials from the fields of legal studies, business ethics and social responsibility.

• LGST6120 - Responsibility in Bus.

  This course introduces students to important ethical and legal challenges they will face as leaders in business. The course materials will be useful to students preparing for managerial positions that are likely to place them in advisory and/or agency roles owing duties to employers, clients, suppliers, and customers. Although coverage will vary depending on instructor, the focus of the course will be on developing skills in ethical and legal analyses that can assist managers as they make both individual-level and firm-level decisions about the responsible courses of action when duties, loyalties, rules, norms, and interests are in conflict. For example, the rules of insider trading may form the basis for lessons in some sections. Group assignments, role-plays, and case studies may, at the instructor's discretion, be used to help illustrate the basic theoretical frameworks. Course materials will highlight industry codes and professional norms, as well as the importance of personal and/or religious values.

• LGST6420 - Big Data, Big Responsibilities

  Artificial intelligence, and related forms of algorithmic decision-making and analytics, are already beginning to transform business, and beyond. With the immense power of these tools, however, comes tremendous responsibility. Problems of accuracy, liability, transparency, bias and discrimination, data protection, job displacement, manipulation, misinformation, and intellectual property violations are already prominent. Major government actors around the world are rapidly adopting new legislation and other obligations. This course identifies the major issues of AI accountability that organizations must consider, as well as the operational, legal compliance, ethical, and technical steps they can take to address them.

• LGST6440 - Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies

  Blockchain technology is a form of decentralized database that allows for the secure exchange of value without reliance on trusted intermediaries. Blockchain is the foundation for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, as well as for distributed ledger platforms used by enterprise consortia in various industries. Many believe that blockchain solutions have revolutionary potential. They promise to replace legal enforcement with technical mechanisms of cryptographic consensus as the means of generating trust. The technology has generated significant excitement, investment, and entrepreneurial activity in recent years. However, the business value of blockchain-based solutions is uncertain, cryptocurrency valuations are speculative, and there are serious legal, regulatory, and governance challenges to be addressed. This course is designed to give students the tools for critical assessment of ongoing developments in this evolving area.

• LGST7990 - Seminar in Law & Society

  A study of the nature, functions, and limits of law as an agency of societal policy. Each semester an area of substantive law is studied for the purpose of examining the relationship between legal norms developed and developing in the area and societal problems and needs.

• OIDD2220 - Internet Law Priv Cyber

  This course examines the complex and often novel legal issues surrounding the development and current state of the Internet, information privacy, and cybersecurity. Topics include federal- and state-level regulation and enforcement of Internet and privacy legal concepts, data breaches, online privacy protections, how to legally manage a borderless Internet, and the liability of intermediaries such as network operators, social media services, and search engines.

• OIDD8970 - Global Modular Course

  Global Modular Course (GMC) - MBA

• PPE4998 - Directed Honors Research

  Student arranges with a Penn faculty member to do research and write a thesis on a suitable topic. For more information on honors visit: https://ppe.sas.upenn.edu/study/curriculum/honors-theses

Aspen Institute Ideas Worth Teaching Award (2021)

NESTA Decentralised Future Prize, First Place (2020)

UBRI Educator Award for Outstanding Blockchain Teacher (2020)

Academy of Legal Studies in Business, Ralph Bunche Award, Finalist (2020)

Gamification Summit, Special Achievement Award for Greatest Contributions to the Field of Gamification (2013)

American Academy in Berlin, Berlin Prize in Law (2011) (declined)

• Wharton MBA Program, Teaching Commitment and Curricular Innovation Award, 2011-2012
• Wharton Teaching Excellence Award, 2017-2018

• After a brutal stretch, a remarkable thing is happening: Cryptocurrencies are surging, NPR All Things Considered - 12/26/2023
• Finance Runs on Trust. Crypto Should Get to Earn It, Too., Barron’s - 03/23/2023
• Apple unveils impressive package in latest iPhones, Philadelphia Inquirer - 09/12/2013
• Comcast’s earnings soar, boost stock, Philadelphia Inquirer - 08/02/2013
• The life of an online professor, American Public Media "Marketplace" - 05/15/2013
• Google Pushed Hard Behind the Scenes to Convince Regulators, New York Times - 01/03/2013
• Skilful players can get ahead of the game, Financial Times - 11/12/2012
• More Than Just a Game, The Economist - 11/10/2012
• Free, high-quality and with mass appeal, Financial Times - 10/22/2012
• MOOC Brigade: Back to School, 26 Years Later, Time - 09/24/2012
• A Free Online Class From Wharton To Get You Started On Business School, Fast Company - 08/24/2012
• Buyer beware: the Facebook debacle, Macleans - 06/06/2012
• Cable companies offer free Wi-Fi — what’s the catch?, American Public Media "Marketplace" - 05/22/2012
• Facebook Updates its Status – by $100bn, The Independent - 02/12/2012
• FCC Criticizes Proposed Merger Of AT&T, T-Mobile, National Public Radio - 11/30/2011
• Mobile phone makers wage war to protect their patents, BBC.com - 10/23/2011
• For Microsoft, Skype Opens Vast New Market in Telecom, New York Times - 05/10/2011
• Sensors and sensibilities, The Economist - 11/04/2010
• FCC Chief On Defensive Over Stalled Broadband Plan, NPR, "All Things Considered" - 10/06/2010
• A virtual counter-revolution, The Economist - 09/02/2010
• 3 Hot Topics at Supernova: Public Policy, Social Media, Privacy, PBS.org - 08/11/2010
• Rivals Google, Comcast join to back Wharton forum, The Philadelphia Inquirer - 07/12/2010
• Universal Internet Access: Not As Simple As It Appears, Information Week - 07/02/2009
• Internet Faces Threat Of Breaking Apart, Information Week - 06/11/2009

Knowledge at Wharton

• How DAOs Could Bring Organizational Trust and Transparency, Knowledge at Wharton - 2/21/2023
• What the FTX Collapse Means for the Cryptocurrency Market, Knowledge at Wharton - 11/22/2022
• Why the U.S. Government Should Regulate Cryptocurrency, Knowledge at Wharton - 3/28/2022
• Will China’s Ban Hurt Cryptocurrencies?, Knowledge at Wharton - 10/5/2021
• Great Question: Kevin Werbach on Cryptocurrency and Fintech, Knowledge at Wharton - 7/21/2021
• The Opportunities and Dangers of Decentralizing Finance, Knowledge at Wharton - 6/10/2021
• Why Regulation Won’t Harm Cryptocurrencies, Knowledge at Wharton - 4/27/2021
• Gamification Is Changing How We Work — and Succeed, Knowledge at Wharton - 11/16/2020
• What’s Next for the Digital Living Room?, Knowledge at Wharton - 9/16/2019
• Is Data Privacy Real? Don’t Bet on It, Knowledge at Wharton - 8/23/2019

Wharton Stories

• Data for Government Transparency: Key Takeaways from Penn Wharton Budget Model’s First Policy Forum, Wharton Stories - 07/09/2018
• Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists Celebrates 50 Years Offering Faculty Insights to Media, Wharton Stories - 06/29/2018
• Three Years On: A Look at the Penn Wharton China Center, Wharton Stories - 05/31/2018
• 2017: The Penn Wharton China Center Year in Review, Wharton Stories - 01/29/2018