Sarah M. Lein

I am Full Professor of Macroeconomics at the University of Basel with research interests in the fields of monetary economics and international macroeconomics. My recent research focuses on the role of firm heterogeneity for inflation dynamics, the the effect of exchange-rate changes on prices and expenditures, the role of currency of invoicing for allocations, and on the role of inflation expectations for price and wage setting of firms.

Before joining the Uni Basel in November 2014, I worked as a Senior Economist in the Economic Analysis Unit at the Swiss National Bank. I received my doctoral degree from the University of Zurich in 2009.

I am also a research fellow at the CEPR Monetary Economics and Fluctuations Programme and the International Macroeconomics and Finance Programme, a research fellow at KOF ETH Zurich and at CESifo Research Network Fellow. I am furthermore a member of the advisory committee of the Inflation: Drivers and Dynamics Program of CEBRA, member of the board of directors and of the investment committee of the pension fund BLPK, and a board member of the Speiser-Bär Stiftung.

Sarah M. Lein - CURRICULUM VITAE

Education

PhD (Dr. oec.) in Economics, University of Zurich, 2009.

PhD Programme Gerzensee, Macroeconomics and Econometrics. Year of graduation: 2007

M.Sc. in Economics, University of Konstanz, 2005.

Exchange Year, University of Sussex, 2002-2003.

Current Employment and Affiliations

Professor of Macroeconomics, University of Basel, 2014--

Research Network Fellow, CESifo Macro, Money, and International Finance Network, 2020 --

Research Fellow, CEPR MEF and IFM, 2019 --

Research Fellow, KOF ETH Zurich, Aug 2014 --

Previous Positions

Visiting Scholar, Clausen Center, University of California, Berkeley, 2022

Co-Editor, Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, 2021--2022

Senior Economist, Economic Analysis, Swiss National Bank, Aug 2008 -- Oct 2014

Research and Teaching Assistant, Chair of Applied Macroeconomics Prof J.-E. Sturm, Department of Management, Technology and Economics, ETH Zurich, Oct 2005-Jul 2008.

Trainee, European Central Bank, DG Economics, Jun 2005-Sep 2005.

Sarah M. Lein - RESEARCH

Working Papers

"The Granular Origins of Inflation", (2024) with Santiago Alvarez-Blaser, Raphael Auer, and Andrei Levchenko

"Inflation Expectation Pass-Through into Prices and Wages: Evidence from an RCT Survey", (2024) with Klaus Abberger, Anne-Kathrin Funk, Michael Lamla, and Stefanie Siegrist, CEPR Discussion Paper No 19595

"Firm net worth, external finance premia and monitoring cost: Estimates based on firm-level data", (2022) with Gregor Bäurle and Elizabeth Steiner, CEPR Discussion Paper No 17508, revise and resubmit Review of Finance

Work in Progress

"Exchange-Rate Pass-Through and Currency Choice in Production Networks", (2024) with Alessandro Ferrari, Andreas Freitag, Eric Kammerlander, and Frank Pisch

"Spousal Labor Supply Elasticities: Evidence from Cross-Border Workers", (2024) with Kevin Kloiber, Andreas Peichl, Kurt Schmidheiny, and Peter Zorn

Selected and Recent Publications

"Unequal Expenditure Switching: Evidence from Switzerland" (2024) with Raphael Auer, Ariel Burstein, and Jonathan Vogel, Review of Economic Studies, 91(5), pp. 2572-2603.

"Cross-border shopping: evidence and welfare implications for Switzerland" (2024) with Ariel Burstein and Jonathan Vogel Journal of International Economics, 152, Article 104015.

Endogenous Product Adjustment and Exchange Rate Pass-Through (2023), with Andreas Freitag, Journal of International Economics, 140, 103706

“Exchange Rates and Prices: Evidence from the 2015 Swiss Franc Appreciation” (2021) with Raphael Auer and Ariel Burstein, American Economic Review, 111(2), pp. 652-86.

Sources of Bias in Inflation Rates and Implications for Inflation Dynamics (2021) with Rahel Braun, Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking, 53(6), 1553-1572.

Price elasticities and demand-side real rigidities in micro data and in macro models (2020) with Günter W. Beck, Journal of Monetary Economics, 115(C), pp 200-212.

“Exports and Invoicing: Evidence from the 2015 Swiss Franc Appreciation” (2019) with Raphael Auer, Ariel Burstein and Katharina Erhardt, American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings, 109, pages 233-38.

The Role of Media for Consumers’ Inflation Expectation Formation (2014), with Michael Lamla, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 106, pages 62-77. [Working paper version]

Sticky Prices or Rational Inattention: What can we Learn from Sectoral Price Data? (2013), with Daniel Kaufmann, European Economic Review, 64(4), pages 384-394.

Asymmetries in Price-Setting Behaviour: New Microeconometric Evidence from Switzerland (2012), with Bo E. Honoré and Daniel Kaufmann, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 44(4), pages 211-236 [Working paper version].

When do Firms Adjust Prices? Evidence from Micro Panel Data (2010), Journal of Monetary Economics, 57(6), pages 696-715 [Working paper version].

All publications

See CV:

Data

Tracking Inflation on a Daily Basis with Santiago E. Alvarez, Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics volume 156, Article number: 18 (2020) Download Data Please contact me if you want an update of the data