Biography

Sophia Chen is a Senior Economist at the International Monetary Fund and Associate Editor of the IMF Economic Review.

An award-winning economist, she specializes in research areas including banking, corporate finance, and macro-financial linkages. Her work emphasizes the critical role of financial sector development for economic growth and financial stability. Her papers span topics on financial crises, monetary policy transmission, and the effects of financial sector regulations.

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 is currently a desk economist covering the Caribbean. Previously as a desk economist on Cyprus covering the IMF program in Cyprus, she covered the country's macroeconomic development and financial sector policies. 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.