PhD in Finance, UC Los Angeles
PhD in Mathematics, UC Berkeley
Research Interest
Stability of currency and banking systems
Macroeconomic impact on investing
GDP growth, inflation, interest rates, credit risk and the financial market
Hedge funds: asset allocations and portfolio management
Nai-fu Chen’s research involves the stability of currencies and financial systems across countries. His research was instrumental in helping Hong 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.
"Rethinking '100% Money': Challenges Brought on by New Financial Technologies", with Takao Kobayashi and Riza Sai, Japan Contemporary Finance 20 (2006), 3-36.
"Financial Investment Opportunities and the Macroeconomy," Journal of Finance 46, September 1991, 1467-84.
"Structural and Return Characteristics of Small and Large Firms," with K.C. Chan, Journal of Finance 46, June 1991, 529-54.
"Economic Forces and the Stock Market," with R. Roll and S. Ross, Journal of Business 59, 1986, 383-403.
Who’s Who in Economics
Professor Chen’s current research involves the stability of currencies and financial systems across countries. He is also interested in the relation between financial markets and economic factors like inflation, interest rates, credit risk, production growth; the relation between market risk premiums and the states of the economy; and how expected returns and expected risk premiums are related to proxy variables such as book-to-market, leverage, size, P/ E ratios. He is an advisor to various asset managers and hedge funds on asset allocations and portfolio management as well as various central banks and monetary authorities.
"Rethinking '100% Money': Challenges Brought on by New Financial Technologies", with Takao Kobayashi and Riza Sai, Japan Contemporary Finance 20 (2006), 3-36.
"The Hong Kong Currency Board During the 1997-8 Crisis: Problems and Solutions," International Review of Finance 2 (2001), 99-112.
"An Intertemporal Currency Board," with Alex Chan, Pacific Economic Review 4 , 1999, vol. 2, 215-232.
"Risk and Return of Value Stocks," with Feng Zhang, Journal of Business 71, 1998, 501-535.
"Stock Volatility and the Levels of the Basis and Open Interest in Futures Contracts" with Charles Cuny and Robert Haugen, Journal of Finance 50, March 1995, 281-300.
"Are the Discounts on Closed-end Funds a Sentiment Index?" with Raymond Kan and Merton Miller, Journal of Finance 48, June 1993, 795-800, 809-10.
"Financial Investment Opportunities and the Macroeconomy," Journal of Finance 46, September 1991, 1467-84.
"Structural and Return Characteristics of Small and Large Firms," with K.C. Chan, Journal of Finance 46, June 1991, 529-54.
"Economic Forces and the Stock Market," with R. Roll and S. Ross, Journal of Business 59, 1986, 383-403.
"Some Empirical Tests of the Theory of Arbitrage Pricing," Journal of Finance 38, December 1983, 1393-1414.
"Exact Pricing in Linear Factor Models with Finitely Many Assets: A Note," with J. Ingersoll, Journal of Finance 38, June 1983, 985-988.
Biography: Education
PhD in Finance, 1981 Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles
Postdoctoral Fellow in Numerical Analysis (NASA), 1975-1976 Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, California
PhD in Numerical Analysis, 1975 Mathematics Department, University of California, Berkeley
AB in Mathematics, 1972 Mathematics Department, University of California, Berkeley
EXPERIENCE
Professor of Finance, 1989 - present, Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine
Head and Adjunct Professor, 1990-present, Department of Finance, School of Business and Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Docent, 1991 - present, Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsinki, Finland
Associate and Assistant Professor of Finance, 1981-1989, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago
Assistant Professor, 1980-1981, Economics Department, University of California, Santa Barbara
Assistant Professor, 1976-1978, Mathematics Department, University of Southern California
