FSRC - Financial System Research Center

• Central Bank Digital Currencies: A Framework for Assessing Why and How

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-22 Ben Fung, Hanna Halaburda

  Digital currencies have attracted strong interest in recent years and have the potential to become widely adopted for use in making payments. Public authorities and central banks around the world are closely monitoring developments in digital currencies and studying their implications for the economy, the financial system and central banks.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Financial services, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42

• Broker Routing Decisions in Limit Order Markets

  Staff Working Paper 2016-50 David Cimon

  The primary focus of this paper is to study conflict of interest in the brokerage market. Brokers face a conflict of interest when the commissions they receive from investors differ from the costs imposed by different trading venues.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): G, G2, G24, G28

• The Digital Economy—Insight from a Special Survey with IT Service Exporters

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-21 Wei Dong, James Fudurich, Lena Suchanek

  Information technology (IT) is an increasingly integral part of everyday business and personal life reflecting the ongoing and accelerating digital transformation of the economy. In this paper, we present information gathered from a survey with export-oriented firms in the Canadian IT service industry and consultations with industry associations aimed at shedding light on this small but highly dynamic sector.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Firm dynamics, Service sector JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, L, L8, L86, O, O3, O33

• Monetary Policy Tradeoffs Between Financial Stability and Price Stability

  Staff Working Paper 2016-49 Malik Shukayev, Alexander Ueberfeldt

  We analyze the impact of interest rate policy on financial stability in an environment where banks can experience runs on their short-term liabilities, forcing them to sell assets at fire-sale prices.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial stability, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): D, D6, D62, E, E3, E32, E4, E44, G, G0, G01

• Managing Risk Taking with Interest Rate Policy and Macroprudential Regulations

  Staff Working Paper 2016-47 Simona Cociuba, Malik Shukayev, Alexander Ueberfeldt

  We develop a model in which a financial intermediary’s investment in risky assets—risk taking—is excessive due to limited liability and deposit insurance and characterize the policy tools that implement efficient risk taking.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial system regulation and policies, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, E5, E52, G, G1, G11, G18

• Fragility of Resale Markets for Securitized Assets and Policy of Asset Purchases

  Staff Working Paper 2016-46 Martin Kuncl

  Markets for securitized assets were characterized by high liquidity prior to the recent financial crisis and by a sudden market dry-up at the onset of the crisis. A general equilibrium model with heterogeneous investment opportunities and information frictions predicts that, in boom periods or mild recessions, the degree of adverse selection in resale markets for securitized assets is limited because of the reputation-based guarantees by asset originators.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Credit and credit aggregates, Economic models, Financial markets, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E5, G, G0, G01, G2

• Financial Constraint and Productivity: Evidence from Canadian SMEs

  Staff Working Paper 2016-44 Shutao Cao, Danny Leung

  The degree to which financial constraint is binding is often not directly observable in commonly used business data sets (e.g., Compustat). In this paper, we measure and estimate the likelihood of a firm being constrained by external financing using a data set of small- and medium-sized Canadian firms.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Firm dynamics, Productivity JEL Code(s): D, D2, D24, G, G3, G32, L, L2, L25

• Using Speed and Credit Limits to Address the Procyclicality of Initial Margin at Central Counterparties

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-18 Nikil Chande, Nicholas Labelle

  This paper proposes a practical approach to address the procyclicality of initial margin at central counterparties (CCPs) that can work even in periods of extreme stress. The approach allows CCPs to limit the speed of margin increases resulting from spikes in market volatility.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Financial markets, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): G, G1, G18

• On the Value of Virtual Currencies

  Staff Working Paper 2016-42 Wilko Bolt, Maarten van Oordt

  This paper develops an economic framework to analyze the exchange rate of virtual currency. Three components are important: first, the current use of virtual currency to make payments; second, the decision of forward-looking investors to buy virtual currency (thereby effectively regulating its supply); and third, the elements that jointly drive future consumer adoption and merchant acceptance of virtual currency.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Asset pricing, Digital currencies and fintech, Exchange rates JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E51, F, F3, F31, G, G1

• The Impact of Macroprudential Housing Finance Tools in Canada: 2005–10

  Staff Working Paper 2016-41 Jason Allen, Timothy Grieder, Brian Peterson, Tom Roberts

  This paper combines loan-level administrative data with household-level survey data to analyze the impact of recent macroprudential policy changes in Canada using a microsimulation model of mortgage demand of first-time homebuyers.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): C, C6, C63, D, D1, D14, G, G2, G28