Robert Koepp

Robert Koepp serves as Director of the Asia-Pacific Geoeconomics and Business Initiative and as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Strategy at the Argyros School of Business and Economics at Chapman University. 

Prior to his roles at Chapman, Rob led the Corporate Network in Hong Kong for The Economist Group, a position in which he served as both a senior editor and chief economist based in Hong Kong. In that capacity, he advised more than 200 Asia-based C-suite executives using The Economist Intelligence Unit’s proprietary economic analytical and forecasting methodologies along with designing and implementing new research initiatives on topics ranging from China’s signature foreign economic strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative, to lessons from technological disruption in Asia. 

He has authored two full-length books, Betting on China: Chinese Stocks, American Stock Markets, and the Wagers on a New Dynamic in Global Capitalism and Clusters of Creativity: Enduring Lessons on Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Silicon Valley and Europe’s Silicon Fen. His previous work in global media also includes both entertainment as well as infotainment. Leading up to its acquisition by Disney, at Marvel Entertainment Rob served as the company’s Chief Representative in Asia. He also was the English editor and translator of a best-selling Japanese manga biography on George Soros. 

Rob has written a wide range of in-depth reports covering such topics as geopolitical shifts from COVID-19, disruptive technologies, digital economics, Big Data, China’s sports industry, China's Belt and Road Initiative, Asian business trends, and comparative government technology industrial policies. He frequently appears on television and at public forums discussing global trends and how to interpret ongoing developments across the Asia-Pacific. 

A graduate of Pomona College (where he was a Truman Scholar and Watson Fellow) with a degree in Asian Studies, Rob earned an MBA from the University of Cambridge. In addition to his native English, Professor Koepp is fluent in Chinese (Mandarin) and Japanese and writes and speaks publicly in these three languages.