Staff analytical notes

• Analyzing supply and demand for business loans using microdata from the Senior Loan Officer Survey

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-13 Dylan Hogg

  Both supply and demand factors help determine the level of business lending in the economy, but most data show only their combined effect on prices and quantities. Using the Bank of Canada’s Senior Loan Officer Survey microdata on financial institutions’ lending conditions and demand, we separate supply from demand effects.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial institutions, Financial stability JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, G, G0, G01, G2

• Can regulating bank capital help prevent and mitigate financial downturns?

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-12 Alejandro García, Josef Schroth

  Countercyclical capital buffers are regulatory measures developed in response to the global financial crisis of 2008–09. This note focuses on how time-varying capital buffers can improve financial stability in Canada

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Credit and credit aggregates, Credit risk management, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, Lender of last resort JEL Code(s): E, E1, E13, E3, E32, E4, E44

• COVID-19 crisis: Liquidity management at Canada’s largest public pension funds

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-11 Guillaume Bédard-Pagé, Daniel Bolduc-Zuluaga, Annick Demers, Jean-Philippe Dion, Manu Pandey, Léanne Berger-Soucy, Adrian Walton

  We examine how the eight largest Canadian public pension funds managed liquidity during the market turmoil in March 2020. The funds were generally resilient to large demands for liquidity and relied heavily on Canada's core funding markets.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Financial institutions, Financial markets JEL Code(s): E, E5, E58, G, G0, G01, G2, G23

• Overlooking the online world: Does mismeasurement of the digital economy explain the productivity slowdown?

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-10 Alejandra Bellatin, Stephanie Houle

  Since the mid-2000s, labour productivity has slowed down in Canada despite enormous technological advances that were expected to improve it. This note investigates whether mismeasurement of the digital economy can explain this paradox.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Productivity JEL Code(s): E, E0, E01, L, L8, L86, O, O3, O33, O4, O5, O51

• Detecting exuberance in house prices across Canadian cities

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-9 Ugochi Emenogu, Cars Hommes, Mikael Khan

  We introduce a model to detect periods of extrapolative house price expectations across Canadian cities. The House Price Exuberance Indicator can be updated on a quarterly basis to support the Bank of Canada’s broader assessment of housing market imbalances.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial stability, Housing JEL Code(s): C, C5, C53, R, R2, R21, R3, R31

• COVID-19’s impact on the financial health of Canadian businesses: An initial assessment

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-8 Timothy Grieder, Mikael Khan, Juan Ortega, Callie Symmers

  Despite COVID-19 challenges, bold policy measures in Canada have helped businesses manage cash flow pressures and kept insolvency filings low. But the impact of the pandemic has been uneven, and the financial health of some firms may further deteriorate over the next year.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Credit and credit aggregates, Financial stability, Firm dynamics, Recent economic and financial developments, Sectoral balance sheet JEL Code(s): G, G3, G31, G32, G33, G38

• Behaviour in the Canadian large-value payment system: COVID-19 vs. the global financial crisis

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-7 Alexander Chaudhry, Anneke Kosse, Karen Sondergard

  Unlike the 2008–09 global financial crisis, the onset of the COVID-19 crisis did not raise stress levels in Canada’s Large Value Transfer System. Swift changes to the Bank of Canada’s collateral policy and its large-scale asset purchase programs likely eased liquidity pressures in the system.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Financial institutions, Financial stability, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E51, E58, E6, E65

• Potential output and the neutral rate in Canada: 2021 update

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-6 Dany Brouillette, Guyllaume Faucher, Martin Kuncl, Austin McWhirter, Youngmin Park

  We expect potential output growth to be higher than in the October 2020 reassessment. By 2024, growth will be slightly above its average growth from 2010 to 2019. We assess that the Canadian nominal neutral rate continues to lie in the range of 1.75 to 2.75 percent.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Economic models, Interest rates, Labour markets, Monetary policy, Potential output, Productivity JEL Code(s): E, E2, E23, E24, E3, E37, E4, E43, E5, E52

• Assessing global potential output growth and the US neutral rate: April 2021

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-5 Thomas J. Carter, Xin Scott Chen, Ali Jaffery, Christopher Hajzler, Jonathan Lachaine, Peter Shannon, Subrata Sarker, Graeme Westwood, Beiling Yan

  We expect global potential output growth to rise to 3 percent by 2022. Relative to the last assessment in October 2020, potential output growth has been revised up across all the regions. The range of the US neutral rate remains unchanged relative to the autumn 2020 assessment.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Interest rates, Monetary policy, Potential output, Productivity JEL Code(s): E, E1, E2, E4, E5, F, F0, O, O4

• Update on housing market imbalances and household indebtedness

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-4 Mikael Khan, Olga Bilyk, Matthew Ackman

  Exceptional strength in the housing market during the pandemic is underpinning Canada’s economic recovery. However, two key vulnerabilities—housing market imbalances and elevated household indebtedness—have intensified.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Credit and credit aggregates, Financial stability, Housing, Recent economic and financial developments, Sectoral balance sheet JEL Code(s): D, D1, D14, D8, D84, E, E5, G, G2, G21, G28, R, R2, R21