Nai-fu Chen’s research involves the stability of currencies and financial systems across countries. His research was instrumental in helping Honk Kong stabilize its currency during the Asian Financial Crisis. He is also interested in the relationship between financial markets and economic factors like inflation, interest rates, credit risk and production growth.

He has also investigated the relationship between market expectations and various states of the economy; the risk and return of value stocks; the structural and return characteristics of small and large firms; and how expected returns and expected risk premiums are related to proxy variables such as book-to-market, leverage, size and P/E ratios. His research has appeared in various publications, including the Journal of Business, the Journal of Finance, and the International Review of Finance.  

Professor Chen serves as an advisor to various asset managers and hedge funds as well as various central banks and monetary authorities.