Sophia Chen
LastUpdated: September 2, 2026
Sophia Chen is a Senior Economist at the International Monetary Fund and Associate Editor of the IMF Economic Review. Her research interests include monetary policy, macro-financial linkages, and financial intermediation, with applications to financial market regulations. Her work has been published in leading academic journals and policy-oriented outlets, earning recognition such as the Journal of Financial Intermediation Best Paper Award. At the IMF, she has led a range of research and policy work, and extensive experience on country and regional economic policies. She has contributed to flagship publications, including the World Economic Outlook and Regional Economic Outlook, and Finance & Development. She has served as a desk economist for European, Latin American, and Caribbean economies, and as the guest editor of the IMF Research Perspective, an award-winning publication. She received her PhD and MA in economics from the University of Michigan. She holds an MLA from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BArch from Tsinghua University.
Email: YCHEN2@imf.org
Personal Webpage: https://sites.google.com/site/sophiachenecon/
Fluent In: Chinese
The Nuanced Role of Government Credit in Monetary Policy Transmission, Working Paper No. 2026/004 , January 9, 2026
Potential Growth and Productivity in the Caribbean, Working Paper No. 2025/157 , August 8, 2025
What Can Artificial Intelligence Do for Stagnant Productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean?, Working Paper No. 2024/219 , October 11, 2024
Inflation and Labor Markets: A Bottom-Up View, Working Paper No. 2024/220 , October 11, 2024
Divergence in Post-Pandemic Earnings Growth: Evidence from Micro Data, Working Paper No. 2024/222 , October 11, 2024
Harnessing Satellite Data to Improve Social Assistance Targeting in the Eastern Caribbean, Working Paper No. 2024/084 , April 5, 2024
The Dynamic Effects of Local Labor Market Shocks on Small Firms in The United States, Working Paper No. 2024/063 , March 22, 2024
Macroprudential Policy Effects: Evidence and Open Questions, Departmental Paper No 2023/002 , March 31, 2023
Differential Effects of Macroprudential Policy, Working Paper No. 2023/043 , February 24, 2023
Do Lenders Make Less-Informed Investments in High-Growth Housing Markets?, Working Paper No. 2021/151 , May 27, 2021
Pricing Protest: The Response of Financial Markets to Social Unrest, Working Paper No. 2021/079 , March 19, 2021
Social Repercussions of Pandemics, Working Paper No. 2021/021 , January 29, 2021
Small and Vulnerable: Small Firm Productivity in the Great Productivity Slowdown, Working Paper No. 2020/294 , December 18, 2020
Tracking the Economic Impact of COVID-19 and Mitigation Policies in Europe and the United States, Working Paper No. 2020/125 , July 10, 2020
The Dynamics of Non-Performing Loans during Banking Crises: A New Database, Working Paper No. 2019/272 , December 6, 2019
Debt Maturity and the Use of Short-Term Debt: Evidence form Sovereigns and Firms, Departmental Paper No. 2019/001 , February 5, 2019
International Technology Sourcing and Knowledge Spillovers: Evidence from OECD Countries, Working Paper No. 2018/051 , March 12, 2018
Credit and Fiscal Multipliers in China, Working Paper No. 2017/273 , December 12, 2017
A Toolkit to Assess the Consistency Between Real Sector and Financial Sector Forecasts, Technical Notes and Manuals No. 2017/009 , June 5, 2017
Financial Information and Macroeconomic Forecasts, Working Paper No. 2016/251 , December 23, 2016
Does Balance Sheet Strength Drive the Investment Cycle? Evidence from Pre- and Post-Crisis Cyprus, Working Paper No. 2016/248 , December 22, 2016
Uncertainty and Investment: The Financial Intermediary Balance Sheet Channel, Working Paper No. 2015/065 , March 20, 2015
The Tax-adjusted Q Model with Intangible Assets: Theory and Evidence from Temporary Investment Tax Incentives, Working Paper No. 2014/104 , June 12, 2014
Financial Constraints, Intangible Assets, and Firm Dynamics: Theory and Evidence, Working Paper No. 2014/088 , May 14, 2014
