Staff analytical notes

• The Formation of House Price Expectations in Canada: Evidence from a Randomized Information Experiment

  Staff Analytical Note 2019-24 Marc-André Gosselin, Mikael Khan, Matthieu Verstraete

  We conduct a randomized information experiment leveraging the Canadian Survey of Consumer Expectations. We provide causal evidence that respondents revise both their short- and medium-term expectations of future house price growth in a way that is consistent with observed short-term momentum in house prices. However, empirically, house price growth tends to revert to its mean in the medium term.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Financial stability, Housing JEL Code(s): C, C9, D, D8, D84, R, R2, R21

• Relative Value of Government of Canada Bonds

  Staff Analytical Note 2019-23 Jean-Sébastien Fontaine, Jabir Sandhu, Adrian Walton

  Government of Canada bonds in circulation that promise very similar payoffs can have different prices. We study the reason for these differences. Bonds that trade more often and earn high rental income in the repurchase agreement (repo) market tend to have higher prices. Bonds with longer tenors and times to maturity tend to have lower prices. This contrast between cheap and expensive bonds is important because trading volume and rental income can change rapidly, unlike tenor and time to maturity, which are stable.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Financial markets JEL Code(s): G, G1, G10, G11, G12, G2, G23, G3, G32

• Explaining Unusual Cash Patterns in 2018

  Staff Analytical Note 2019-22 Walter Engert, Ben Fung, Jozsef Molnar, Gradon Nicholls

  There was an unusually large decline of bank notes in circulation in October 2018. Some have argued that this was due to the legalization of cannabis in Canada in mid-October.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech, Financial services JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42, E5, E58

• The Effects of Inflation Targeting for Financial Development

  Staff Analytical Note 2019-21 Geoffrey R. Dunbar, Amy (Qijia) Li

  The adoption of inflation targeting (IT) by central banks leads to an increase of 10 to 20 percent in measures of financial development, with a lag. We also find evidence that the financial sector benefits of IT adoption were higher for early-adopting central banks.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Financial institutions, Inflation targets, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, E5, E58

• The Impact of a Trade War: Assessment of the Current Tariffs and Alternative Scenarios

  Staff Analytical Note 2019-20 Karyne B. Charbonneau

  This note uses Charbonneau and Landry’s (2018) framework to assess the direct impact of the current trade tensions on the Canadian and global economies, as well as possible implications if the conflict escalates further. Overall, my findings show that the estimated impact of current tariffs on real gross domestic product (GDP) remains relatively small, which is in line with the literature on gains from trade, but the impact on trade is much larger.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Recent economic and financial developments, Trade integration JEL Code(s): F, F1, F11, F13, F14, F15, F5, F50, F6, F62, F68

• Outlook for Electric Vehicles and Implications for the Oil Market

  Staff Analytical Note 2019-19 Étienne Latulippe, Kun Mo

  The market for electric vehicles (EVs) is growing rapidly. Subsidies and technological improvements are expected to increase the market share of EVs over the coming decade. In its base-case scenario, the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects EV use to rise from 4 million vehicles in 2018 to 120 million by 2030, or from 0.3 per cent to over 7 per cent of the global car fleet.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): International topics JEL Code(s): Q, Q4, Q47

• Online Job Seekers in Canada: What Can We Learn from Bing Job Queries?

  Staff Analytical Note 2019-18 André Binette, Karyne B. Charbonneau, Nicholas Curtis, Gabriela Galassi, Scott Counts, Justin Cranshaw

  Labour markets in Canada and around the world are evolving rapidly with the digital economy. Traditional data are adapting gradually but are not yet able to provide timely information on this evolution.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Central bank research, Labour markets, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): C, C8, C80, E, E2, E24, J, J2, J21

• A Structural Model of the Global Oil Market

  Staff Analytical Note 2019-17 Reinhard Ellwanger

  This note presents a structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model of the global oil market. The model identifies four types of shocks with different economic interpretations: oil supply shocks, oil-market-specific demand shocks, storage demand shocks and shocks to global economic growth.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Economic models JEL Code(s): Q, Q4, Q41, Q43

• Assessing the Resilience of the Canadian Banking System

  Staff Analytical Note 2019-16 Charles Gaa, Xuezhi Liu, Cameron MacDonald, Xiangjin Shen

  The stability of the Canadian financial system, as well as its ability to support the Canadian economy, depends on the ability of financial institutions to absorb and manage major shocks. This is especially true for large banks, which perform services essential to the Canadian economy.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial stability JEL Code(s): C, C6, C63, E, E2, E27, E3, E37, E4, E44, G, G0, G01, G2, G21

• Measuring Non-Financial Corporate Sector Vulnerabilities in Canada

  Staff Analytical Note 2019-15 Timothy Grieder, Claire Schaffter

  The ratio of non-financial corporate debt to gross domestic product in Canada has increased noticeably in recent years and is currently at an all-time high. In light of this development, we use a unique firm-level dataset to construct vulnerability indicators for the non-financial corporate sector in Canada.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Credit and credit aggregates, Financial stability, Monetary and financial indicators, Recent economic and financial developments, Sectoral balance sheet JEL Code(s): G, G0, G01, G3, G32