Barbara Kotschwar
Adjunct Professor - Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS)
Barbara Kotschwar is an adjunct professor of Latin American studies and economics at Georgetown University, where she has taught courses on political economy and trade and integration in the Americas since 1998. A trade economist and development consultant, Dr. Kotschwar’s career includes high-level positions in Fortune 500 corporations, global organizations and leading think tanks. She recently served as Executive Director of the Visa Economic Empowerment Institute where, among other issues, she led research on the importance of digital trade for MSMEs, particularly those led by women. Prior experience includes leading the World Bank’s portfolio on international investment agreements, conducting studies on trade, integration, emerging market trends and corporate gender balance at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and leading the OAS’s Foreign Trade Information Section in support of the Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations. She has advised governments and organizations across the globe, including in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank, the OAS, the United Nations, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization.
She is a member of the Board of Georgetown’s Center on Inclusive Trade and Development (CITD), the University of the West Indies, Shridath Ramphal Centre on International Trade Policy (MITP) and the Inter-American Dialogue’s Latin America Advisor and is an Advisor to the Trade Experettes and the Trade Policy Research Forum (TPRForum). She has been a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on International Trade and Investment and on Economic Growth and Recovery.
He work on international trade has been cited in the Economist, Financial Times, the New York Times, Business Insider, El Diario de Cuba, El Espectador, El Financiero, El Mundo, Huffington Post, Slate Magazine, and the Diane Rehm show among others.
A citizen of Canada and the US, she received her PhD from Johns Hopkins SAIS and studied economics and political science at McGill University in Montreal.
Her publications include: Digital, diverse, and going global: A new dawn for women-owned firms (2023), “Investment,” Chapter 5 in Mattoo, Rocha and Ruta, Handbook of Deep Trade Agreements (2020), China's Economic Influence in Latin America (2014), Economic Normalization with Cuba: A Map for US Policymakers. (2014), Understanding the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Policy Analyses in International Economics 99 (2013), Transportation and Communication Infrastructure in Latin America: Lessons from Asia (2012), Chinese Investment in Latin American Resources: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (2012) Mapping investment provisions in regional trade agreements: towards an international investment regime (2009); as well as Balancing the Board: A Global Survey of Women in Corporate Leadership. (2015) Pitching a Level Playing Field: Drafting Women into Sports Leadership (2015) She is coeditor of Trade Rules in the Making: Multilateral and Regional Trade Arrangements (Brookings Institution Press/Organization of American States, 1999) and The Andean Community and the United States: Trade and Investment Relations in the 1990s (Organization of American States, 1998).
In Spring 2024 she is pleased to be teaching LASP 5703, trade and integration in Latin America, with Professor Antonio Ortiz Mena.