Sherry Stephenson

Bio

Sherry M. Stephenson is Deputy Director for Trade of the Organization of American States, where she works within the Trade Unit. Her responsibility includes, among others, provision of analytical support to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Negotiating Group on Services, and to the FTAA Joint Government-Private Sector Committee of Experts on Electronic Commerce, as well as technical assistance to the participating countries in the FTAA process. She received a Ph.D. in International Economics from the University of Geneva, Switzerland in 1986 and an M.A. in Economics from New York University. Prior to her position with the OAS, Dr. Stephenson was an Advisor to the Ministry of Trade, Government of Indonesia, Jakarta, for three years. Previous positions have been with the GATT Secretariat in Geneva and with the Trade Directorate of the OECD in Paris.   She has done consulting work for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Institute of the Americas, Nathan Associates, and several national governments. Dr. Stephenson has taught within the Masters of Arts Program in International Commerce and Policy at George Mason University. She is a member of the International Trade Policy Forum of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and the Inter-American Dialogue.


Dr. Stephenson has written extensively on trade policy issues, particularly in the area of services and standards. She published a volume on trade in services in the Western Hemisphere, entitled “Services Trade in the Western Hemisphere: Liberalization, Integration, and Reform” (2000). She has authored papers and studies on Multilateral and regional services liberalization by Latin America and the Caribbean (2001), Deepening disciplines for trade in services: transparency, domestic regulation and recognition (2001), Services and Liberalization by Developing Countries (2001), Recognition in the Services Sector (2001), An asymmetric approach to services liberalization: the EU-MERCOSUR case (2001), Liberalization of trade in service: ASEAN and agreements in the Western Hemisphere (2001), Evaluating approaches to the liberalization of trade in services: insights from regional experience in the Americas (2001), Non-tariff barriers and the telecommunications sector (2001),The state of the FTAA negotiations at the turn of the millennium (2000), GATS and Regional Integration (2000), Mutual Recognition and its Role in Trade Facilitation (1999), Approaches to Services Liberalization by Developing Countries (1998), Regional Liberalization of Trade in Services by Countries of the Western Hemisphere (1998), Comparative Approaches to Services Liberalization in Southeast Asia and in the Western Hemisphere (1997), The United Nations System and International Trade (1997), Standards, the Environment and Trade Facilitation in the Western Hemisphere: Negotiating in the FTAA (1997), Liberalization of Trade in Services: APEC and the Western Hemisphere (1996), and Standards and Conformity Assessment as Non-tariff Barriers to Trade (1996), among others. She speaks fluent French and Spanish.
 

Academic Background

  • BA, Political Science, Colorado Womens’ College

  • MA, Economics, New York University

  • PhD, International Economics, University of Geneva

  • Licence es Sciences Politiques (International Relations), Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva

Areas of Expertise

  • International trade policy

  • Regional integration

  • Trade and Services

Present Position (s)

  • Deputy Director, OAS Trade Unit (since January 2000)

  • Services Expert, Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC)
     

Previous Position (s)

  • Principal Trade Specialist, OAS Trade Unit (5 years)

  • Advisor, Ministry of Trade, Government of Indonesia, Jakarta (3 years)

  • Principal Trade Specialist, Trade Directorate, OECD (8 years)

  • Senior Trade Specialist, Research Division, GATT (2 years)

  • Trade Specialist, Trade Division, UNCTAD (2 years)

Other Activities and Memberships

Recent Publications

BOOKS

  • Services Trade Issues and Developing Countries, edited by Christopher Findlay and Sherry Stephenson, Asia Pacific Press, 2002 (forthcoming)

  • Services Trade in the Western Hemisphere: Liberalization, Integration, and Reform, edited by Sherry Stephenson, Brookings Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 2000, 252 pages.
     

WRITINGS

  • Liberalization of Trade in Services: Options and Implications for Latin American and Caribbean Countries, with Luis Majluf Abugattas in The Promise and Problems of Trade Negotiations in Latin America, edited by Diana Tussie, Latin American Trade Network, 2002 (forthcoming)

  • An Asymmetric Approach to Services Liberalization: The EU-MERCOSUR Case, with Patricio Contreras, prepared for the Experts Workshop on “An Integrated Approach to the EU-ERCOSUR Association Agreement”, organized by the Institut des Sciences Politiques of Paris in Brussels, November 19-20, 2001

  • Non-tariff barriers and the telecommunications sector, in Trade, Investment and Competition Policies in the Global Economy: The Case of the International Telecommunications Regime, edited by Paolo Guerrieri and Hans-Eckart Scharrer, Nomos Verlag: Baden-Baden, 2002 (forthcoming)

  • Multilateral Services Liberalization by Latin America and the Caribbean: Their Growing
    Participation, in Latin America : Its Future in the Global Economy, edited by Patricia Rich, Macmillan Press, United Kingdom, 2001

  • The Evolution of Economic Policy Reform: Determinants, Sequencing and Reasons for Success with William E. James in Deregulation and Development in Indonesia, edited by Farrukh Iqbal, Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., Connecticut, 2001

  • Services, in Toward Free Trade in the Americas, edited by José M. Salazar-Xirinachs and Maryse Robert, Brookings Institution Press, Washington D.C. 2001, pages 172-197

  • Liberalization of Trade in Services: East Asia and the Western Hemisphere, with Deunden Nikomborirak, Paper prepared for the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) Trade Policy Forum on Regional Trading Arrangements, Bangkok, Thailand, 12-13 June 2001

  • Deepening Disciplines for Trade in Services: Transparency, Domestic Regulation and Recognition, OAS Trade Unit Studies, Washington D.C. March, 2001, 32 pages

  • Multilateral and Regional Services Liberalization by Latin America and the Caribbean, OAS Trade Unit Studies, Washington D.C. March, 2001, 45 pages

  • Evaluating approaches to the liberalization of trade in services: insights from regional experience in the Americas, with Francisco Prieto, in Trade Policy for Developing Countries in a Global Economy: A HandBook, World Bank, Washington D.C. 2001

  • The State of the FTAA Negotiations at the Turn of the Millennium, in NAFTA: Law and Business Review of the Americas, Volume VI, No. 3, Summer 2000, pages 317-334

  • GATS and Regional Integration, in GATS 2000: New Directions in Services Trade Liberalization, edited by Pierre Sauvé and Robert Stern. Brookings Institution Press, Washington D.C. 2000, pages 509-530

  • Comparison of Existing Trade in Services Arrangements within APEC, in Impediments to Trade in Services: Measurement and Policy Implications, edited by Christopher Findlay and Tony Warren, London and New York: Routledge, 2000, pages 287-341

  • Dealing with Public Interest in the Changing Nature of the Provision of Infrastructure Services, with Emphasis on the Telecom Sector, with Soonhwa Yi, paper written for a Conference on “Alternative Development: The Role of the Services Sector”, University of the West Indies, Barbados, January 12-14, 2000

Current Research Projects

  • Project on “Regulatory Reform in Services”, jointly carried out by the OAS and the World Bank with various inter-regional organizations in the Western Hemisphere, including ECLAC, SIECA and the Andean Community Secretariat;
     

  • Project on “Best Regulatory Practices in Services and Developing Good Regulations” carried out by the PECC for the APEC Group on Services

Recommended Links

Services link information

Areas of Interest

  • Regional Integration and Services Liberalization