IMF RESEARCHER

Sophia Chen is a Senior Economist at the IMF and Associate Editor of the IMF Economic Review. Her research focuses on banking, corporate finance, and macro-financial linkages. Her papers cover financial markets, monetary policy transmission, financial sector regulations, and productivity. 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 contributed extensively to financial sector policies, vulnerability assessments, and crisis management. She has been a contributor to the World Economic Outlook, and a reviewer for Argentina, China, Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey. She has worked in the European Department, Research Department, and Western Hemisphere Department. She has served as the guest editor of the IMF Research Perspective, an award-winning publication. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. in economics from the University of Michigan. She holds an M.L.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.Arch. from Tsinghua University.

Email: YCHEN2@imf.org

Personal WebPage: https://sites.google.com/site/sophiachenecon/

Fluent In: Chinese.

Education:

Ph.D., University of Michigan

M.A., University of Michigan

M.L.A., University of Pennsylvania

B.Arch, Tsinghua University

Editorial Activities:

IMF Economic Review, Associate Editor, 2022-present

IMF Research Perspective, Guest Editor, 2020

Work in progress:

“Information Disadvantage and Loan Screening: Evidence from the Mortgage Market”, with Yangfan Sun.

“Government Credit and Monetary Policy Transmission: Evidence from Brazil”, with Leila Aghabarari, Deniz Igan, and Bernardus Van Doornik.

Field of Expertise:

Banking

Public Finance

Macro-Financial Issues

IMF Books and Working Papers:

Harnessing Satellite Data to Improve Social Assistance Targeting in the Eastern Caribbean , Working Paper No. 2024/084 , April 05, 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 27, 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? , IMF 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. 20/125 , July 10, 2020

The Dynamics of Non-Performing Loans during Banking Crises: A New Database , Working Paper No. 19/272 , December 06, 2019

Debt Maturity and the Use of Short-Term Debt : Evidence form Sovereigns and Firms , Departmental Paper No.19/03 , February 05, 2019

International Technology Sourcing and Knowledge Spillovers: Evidence from OECD Countries , Working Paper No. 18/51 , March 12, 2018

Credit and Fiscal Multipliers in China , Working Paper No. 17/273 , December 12, 2017

A Toolkit to Assess the Consistency Between Real Sector and Financial Sector Forecasts , Technical Notes and Manuals No. 17/09 , June 05, 2017

Financial Information and Macroeconomic Forecasts , Working Paper No. 16/251 , December 23, 2016

Does Balance Sheet Strength Drive the Investment Cycle? Evidence from Pre- and Post-Crisis Cyprus , Working Paper No. 16/248 , December 22, 2016

Uncertainty and Investment: The Financial Intermediary Balance Sheet Channel , Working Paper No. 15/65 , March 20, 2015

The Tax-adjusted Q Model with Intangible Assets: Theory and Evidence from Temporary Investment Tax Incentives , Working Paper No. 14/104 , June 12, 2014

Financial Constraints, Intangible Assets, and Firm Dynamics: Theory and Evidence , Working Paper No. 14/88 , May 14, 2014

IMF Country Reports

St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Staff Report for the 2024 Article IV Consultation

St. Kitts and Nevis: Staff Report for the 2024 Article IV Consultation

St. Kitts and Nevis: Staff Report for the 2023 Article IV Consultation

St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Staff Report for the 2022 Article IV Consultation

Cyprus: Ninth Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility and Request for Waiver of Applicability of Performance Criteria-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Cyprus

Cyprus: Eighth Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility and Request for Modification of Performance Criteria-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Cyprus

Cyprus : Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Reviews Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility; Request for Waiver of Nonobservance of a Performance Criterion; and Rephasing of Access

iMFdirect Blog Posts

"How Stock Markets Respond to Social Unrest", with Philip Barrett, May 10, 2021.

"COVID’s Long Shadow: Social Repercussions of Pandemics", with Philip Barrett, February 3, 2021.

"Propping Up the Chinese Economy: Credit versus Fiscal Stimulus", with Lev Ratnovski, December 12, 2017.

F&D articles

“The Economics of Social Unrest”, with Philip Barrett, Finance and Development, August 2021.

Selected Issue

St. Kitts and Nevis: Economic Benefits from Energy Transition

Eastern Caribbean Currency Union: Toward More Efficient, Sustainable, and Fair Pension Schemes in the ECCU

St. Kitts and Nevis: Labor Market Diagnosis and Policies

St. Kitts and Nevis: Climate Change Adaptation and Resilient Investment

Other Published Materials

Macroprudential Policy Effects: Evidence and Open Questions, IMF Departmental Paper, 2023/002.

“Rising Corporate Market Power: Emerging Policy Issues”, IMF Staff Discussion Notes, No. 21/01, March 15, 2021.

"COVID’s Long Shadow: Social Repercussions of Pandemics", with Philip Barrett, Nan Li, IMF Research Perspective, Volume 23, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 2020.

"Social Unrest during COVID-19", with Philip Barrett, in World Economic Outlook, "Global Prospects and Policies" October 2020 Chapter 1.

"An Economy for All", IMF Research Perspective, Volume 22, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2020.

"Tracking the Economic Impact of COVID-19 and Mitigation Policies in Europe and the United States", with Deniz Igan, Nicola Pierri, and Andrea F. Presbitero, IMF Special Series on COVID-19, May 7, 2020.

"International R&D Sourcing and Knowledge Spillovers", in IMF World Economic Outlook, "Is Productivity Growth Shared in a Globalized Economy?" April 2018 Chapter 4.

"Monetary Policy in the New Normal", with an IMF staff team, IMF Staff Discussion Note 14/3.

Publications in Journals (Refereed)

“Pricing Protest: The Response of Financial Markets to Social Unrest”, with Philip Barrett, Mariia Bondar, Mali Chivakul, and Deniz O Igan, forthcoming, Review of Finance.

“Small and Vulnerable: Small Firm Productivity in the Great Productivity Slowdown”, with Do Lee, Journal of Financial Economics, 2023.

"The Spread of Deposit Insurance and the Global Rise in Bank Asset Risk since the 1970s", with Charles W. Calomiris. Journal of Financial Intermediation, 2022.

“The Dynamics of Non-Performing Loans during Banking Crises: A New Database with Post-COVID-19 Implications”, with Anil Ari and Lev Ratnovski, Journal of Banking and Finance, 2021.

"Credit and Fiscal Multipliers in China: Evidence from a political economy based estimation", with Lev Ratnovski and Pi-Han Tsai, Journal of International Money and Finance, 2021.

"Financial Information and Macroeconomic Forecasts", with Romain Ranciere, International Journal of Forecasting, Vol 35, Issue 3, pp 1160-1174, 2019.

"Does Balance Sheet Strength Drive Investment Cycle? Evidence from Pre- and Post-Crisis Cyprus", with Yinqiu Lu, Cyprus Economic Policy Review, Vol 12, No. 1, pp 3-27 (lead article), 2018.

"The Tax-adjusted Q Model with Intangible Assets: Theory and Evidence from Temporary Investment Tax Incentives", with Estelle P. Dauchy, Southern Economic Journal, Volume 83, Issue 4, 2017.

Publications in Journals (Referred)

"Social Repercussions of Pandemics", with Philip Barrett, Covid Economics, Issue 68, 2021.

"Tracking the Economic Impact of COVID-19 and Mitigation Policies in Europe and the United States", with Deniz Igan, Nicola Pierri, and Andrea F. Presbitero, Covid Economics, Issue 36, 2020.

"COVID-19 and Non-Performing Loans: Lessons from Past Crises", with Anil Ari and Lev Ratnovski, ECB Research Bulletin, No. 72, June 19, 2020.

Other Published Materials

“COVID-19 and Non-Performing Loans: Lessons from Past Crises”, with Anil Ari and Lev Ratnovski, ECB Research Bulletin, No. 72, June 19, 2020.

Sophia Chen is a Senior Economist at the IMF and Associate Editor of the IMF Economic Review. Her research focuses on banking, corporate finance, and macro-financial linkages. Her papers cover financial markets, monetary policy transmission, financial sector regulations, and productivity. 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 contributed extensively to financial sector policies, vulnerability assessments, and crisis management. She has been a contributor to the World Economic Outlook, and a reviewer for Argentina, China, Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey. She has worked in the European Department, Research Department, and Western Hemisphere Department. She has served as the guest editor of the IMF Research Perspective, an award-winning publication. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. in economics from the University of Michigan. She holds an M.L.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.Arch. from Tsinghua University.

Email: YCHEN2@imf.org

Personal WebPage: https://sites.google.com/site/sophiachenecon/

Fluent In: Chinese.

Education:

Ph.D., University of Michigan

M.A., University of Michigan

M.L.A., University of Pennsylvania

B.Arch, Tsinghua University

Editorial Activities:

IMF Economic Review, Associate Editor, 2022-present

IMF Research Perspective, Guest Editor, 2020

Work in progress:

“Information Disadvantage and Loan Screening: Evidence from the Mortgage Market”, with Yangfan Sun.

“Government Credit and Monetary Policy Transmission: Evidence from Brazil”, with Leila Aghabarari, Deniz Igan, and Bernardus Van Doornik.

Field of Expertise:

Banking

Public Finance

Macro-Financial Issues

IMF Books and Working Papers:

Harnessing Satellite Data to Improve Social Assistance Targeting in the Eastern Caribbean , Working Paper No. 2024/084 , April 05, 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 27, 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? , IMF 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. 20/125 , July 10, 2020

The Dynamics of Non-Performing Loans during Banking Crises: A New Database , Working Paper No. 19/272 , December 06, 2019

Debt Maturity and the Use of Short-Term Debt : Evidence form Sovereigns and Firms , Departmental Paper No.19/03 , February 05, 2019

International Technology Sourcing and Knowledge Spillovers: Evidence from OECD Countries , Working Paper No. 18/51 , March 12, 2018

Credit and Fiscal Multipliers in China , Working Paper No. 17/273 , December 12, 2017

A Toolkit to Assess the Consistency Between Real Sector and Financial Sector Forecasts , Technical Notes and Manuals No. 17/09 , June 05, 2017

Financial Information and Macroeconomic Forecasts , Working Paper No. 16/251 , December 23, 2016

Does Balance Sheet Strength Drive the Investment Cycle? Evidence from Pre- and Post-Crisis Cyprus , Working Paper No. 16/248 , December 22, 2016

Uncertainty and Investment: The Financial Intermediary Balance Sheet Channel , Working Paper No. 15/65 , March 20, 2015

The Tax-adjusted Q Model with Intangible Assets: Theory and Evidence from Temporary Investment Tax Incentives , Working Paper No. 14/104 , June 12, 2014

Financial Constraints, Intangible Assets, and Firm Dynamics: Theory and Evidence , Working Paper No. 14/88 , May 14, 2014

IMF Country Reports

St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Staff Report for the 2024 Article IV Consultation

St. Kitts and Nevis: Staff Report for the 2024 Article IV Consultation

St. Kitts and Nevis: Staff Report for the 2023 Article IV Consultation

St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Staff Report for the 2022 Article IV Consultation

Cyprus: Ninth Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility and Request for Waiver of Applicability of Performance Criteria-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Cyprus

Cyprus: Eighth Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility and Request for Modification of Performance Criteria-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Cyprus

Cyprus : Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Reviews Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility; Request for Waiver of Nonobservance of a Performance Criterion; and Rephasing of Access

iMFdirect Blog Posts

"How Stock Markets Respond to Social Unrest", with Philip Barrett, May 10, 2021.

"COVID’s Long Shadow: Social Repercussions of Pandemics", with Philip Barrett, February 3, 2021.

"Propping Up the Chinese Economy: Credit versus Fiscal Stimulus", with Lev Ratnovski, December 12, 2017.

F&D articles

“The Economics of Social Unrest”, with Philip Barrett, Finance and Development, August 2021.

Selected Issue

St. Kitts and Nevis: Economic Benefits from Energy Transition

Eastern Caribbean Currency Union: Toward More Efficient, Sustainable, and Fair Pension Schemes in the ECCU

St. Kitts and Nevis: Labor Market Diagnosis and Policies

St. Kitts and Nevis: Climate Change Adaptation and Resilient Investment

Other Published Materials

Macroprudential Policy Effects: Evidence and Open Questions, IMF Departmental Paper, 2023/002.

“Rising Corporate Market Power: Emerging Policy Issues”, IMF Staff Discussion Notes, No. 21/01, March 15, 2021.

"COVID’s Long Shadow: Social Repercussions of Pandemics", with Philip Barrett, Nan Li, IMF Research Perspective, Volume 23, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 2020.

"Social Unrest during COVID-19", with Philip Barrett, in World Economic Outlook, "Global Prospects and Policies" October 2020 Chapter 1.

"An Economy for All", IMF Research Perspective, Volume 22, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2020.

"Tracking the Economic Impact of COVID-19 and Mitigation Policies in Europe and the United States", with Deniz Igan, Nicola Pierri, and Andrea F. Presbitero, IMF Special Series on COVID-19, May 7, 2020.

"International R&D Sourcing and Knowledge Spillovers", in IMF World Economic Outlook, "Is Productivity Growth Shared in a Globalized Economy?" April 2018 Chapter 4.

"Monetary Policy in the New Normal", with an IMF staff team, IMF Staff Discussion Note 14/3.

Publications in Journals (Refereed)

“Pricing Protest: The Response of Financial Markets to Social Unrest”, with Philip Barrett, Mariia Bondar, Mali Chivakul, and Deniz O Igan, forthcoming, Review of Finance.

“Small and Vulnerable: Small Firm Productivity in the Great Productivity Slowdown”, with Do Lee, Journal of Financial Economics, 2023.

"The Spread of Deposit Insurance and the Global Rise in Bank Asset Risk since the 1970s", with Charles W. Calomiris. Journal of Financial Intermediation, 2022.

“The Dynamics of Non-Performing Loans during Banking Crises: A New Database with Post-COVID-19 Implications”, with Anil Ari and Lev Ratnovski, Journal of Banking and Finance, 2021.

"Credit and Fiscal Multipliers in China: Evidence from a political economy based estimation", with Lev Ratnovski and Pi-Han Tsai, Journal of International Money and Finance, 2021.

"Financial Information and Macroeconomic Forecasts", with Romain Ranciere, International Journal of Forecasting, Vol 35, Issue 3, pp 1160-1174, 2019.

"Does Balance Sheet Strength Drive Investment Cycle? Evidence from Pre- and Post-Crisis Cyprus", with Yinqiu Lu, Cyprus Economic Policy Review, Vol 12, No. 1, pp 3-27 (lead article), 2018.

"The Tax-adjusted Q Model with Intangible Assets: Theory and Evidence from Temporary Investment Tax Incentives", with Estelle P. Dauchy, Southern Economic Journal, Volume 83, Issue 4, 2017.

Publications in Journals (Referred)

"Social Repercussions of Pandemics", with Philip Barrett, Covid Economics, Issue 68, 2021.

"Tracking the Economic Impact of COVID-19 and Mitigation Policies in Europe and the United States", with Deniz Igan, Nicola Pierri, and Andrea F. Presbitero, Covid Economics, Issue 36, 2020.

"COVID-19 and Non-Performing Loans: Lessons from Past Crises", with Anil Ari and Lev Ratnovski, ECB Research Bulletin, No. 72, June 19, 2020.

Other Published Materials

“COVID-19 and Non-Performing Loans: Lessons from Past Crises”, with Anil Ari and Lev Ratnovski, ECB Research Bulletin, No. 72, June 19, 2020.