Yao Chen

Yao Chen is an Associate Professor at the Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and holds affiliations as a CEPR Research Affiliate and Tinbergen Institute Research Fellow. Her research focuses on international macroeconomics, monetary policy, and economic history.

Research Interests include analyzing historical monetary systems (e.g., the Gold Standard, Spanish Empire silver flows) and their implications for modern macroeconomic stability. Her work often combines

• empirical analysis of monetary shocks
• exchange rate regime impacts
• credit market frictions
• economic growth drivers

Publications highlight trends in

• fixed exchange rate divergence (2025)
• maritime disaster-induced money shocks (2024)
• Spanish Empire money supply reconstruction (2021)
• Gold Standard stabilization mechanisms (2019)

with methodological emphasis on natural experiments and historical data synthesis.