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

Current Courses (Fall 2022)

• 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.

  LGST6120006 ( Syllabus )

  LGST6120005 ( Syllabus )

  LGST6120702 ( Syllabus )

All Courses

• LGST2220 - Internet Law Priv Cyber

  This course looks at how courts, legislatures, and regulators confront the major issues of the internet world. Billions of people are now active on social media, and firms such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Alibaba are among the worlds most valuable and influential. The legal interfaces between the physical world and the digital world are therefore increasingly important. In particular, exploitation of personal information online by governments, digital platforms, and bad actors is becoming a constant source of major controversies. The material in the course ranges from the foundations of cyberlaw, developed during the e-commerce bubble of the 1990s, to current leading-edge questions around the power and responsibility of digital intermediaries; data protection in the U.S. and Europe; cybercrime;blockchain; and network neutrality. No pre-existing legal or technical knowledge is required.

• LGST2420 - Big Data, Big Resp.

  Significant technologies always have unintended consequences, and their effects are never neutral. A World of ubiquitous data, subject to ever more sophisticated collection, aggregation, and analysis, creates massive opportunities for both financial gain and social good. It also creates dangers in areas such as privacy, security, discrimination, exploitation, and inequality, as well as simple hubris about the effectiveness of management by algorithm. Firms that anticipate the risks of these new practices will be best positioned to avoid missteps. This course introduces students to the legal, policy, and ethical dimensions of big data, predictive analytics, and related techniques. It then examines responses-both private and governmental-that may be employed to address these concerns.

• 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 Resp.

  Significant technologies always have unintended consequences, and their effects are never neutral. A world of ubiquitous data, subject to ever more sophisticated collection, aggregation, and analysis, creates massive opportunities for both financial gain and social good. It also creates dangers in areas such as privacy, security, discrimination, exploitation, and inequality, as well as simple hubris about the effectiveness of management by algorithm. Firms that anticipate the risks of these new practices will be best positioned to avoid missteps. This course introduces students to the legal, policy, and ethical dimensions of big data, predictive analytics, and related techniques. It then examines responses-both private and governmental-that may be employed to address these concerns.

• LGST6440 - Blockchain/Cryptocurrenc

  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 looks at how courts, legislatures, and regulators confront the major issues of the internet world. Billions of people are now active on social media, and firms such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Alibaba are among the worlds most valuable and influential. The legal interfaces between the physical world and the digital world are therefore increasingly important. In particular, exploitation of personal information online by governments, digital platforms, and bad actors is becoming a constant source of major controversies. The material in the course ranges from the foundations of cyberlaw, developed during the e-commerce bubble of the 1990s, to current leading-edge questions around the power and responsibility of digital intermediaries; data protection in the U.S. and Europe; cybercrime;blockchain; and network neutrality. No pre-existing legal or technical knowledge is required.

• 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

• 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

• 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
• The Impact of Social Media: Is it Irreplaceable?, Knowledge at Wharton - 7/26/2019

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