Staff working papers

• Monetary Policy, Trends in Real Interest Rates and Depressed Demand

  Staff Working Paper 2021-27 Paul Beaudry, Césaire Meh

  Over the last few decades, real interest rates have trended downward. The most common explanation is that this reflects depressed demand due to demographic, technological and other real factors. We explore the claim that these trends may have been amplified by certain features of monetary policy.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Debt management, Economic models, Fiscal policy, Inflation and prices, Interest rates, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): E, E2, E4, E43, E44, E5, E52, E6, E62, E63, H, H3, H6, H63

• The Geography of Pandemic Containment

  Staff Working Paper 2021-26 Elisa Giannone, Nuno Paixão, Xinle Pang

  Interconnectedness between US states has affected the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. We study the optimal containment policies regulating the movement of goods and people within and between states.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Economic models, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): F, F1, H, H0, I, I1, R, R1

• COVID-19 and Implications for Automation

  Staff Working Paper 2021-25 Alex Chernoff, Casey Warman

  Occupations held by females with mid-level education face the highest risk of accelerated automation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), International topics, Labour markets JEL Code(s): I, I1, I14, I2, I24, J, J1, J15, J16, R, R1, R12

• Shaping the future: Policy shocks and the GDP growth distribution

  Staff Working Paper 2021-24 Francois-Michel Boire, Thibaut Duprey, Alexander Ueberfeldt

  Can central bank and government policies impact the risks around the outlook for GDP growth? We find that fiscal stimulus makes strong GDP growth more likely—even more so when monetary policy is constrained—rather than weak GDP growth less likely. Thus, fiscal stimulus should accelerate the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Econometric and statistical methods, Financial stability, Fiscal policy, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): C, C3, C32, C5, C53, E, E5, E52, E6, E62

• An Empirical Analysis of Bill Payment Choices

  Staff Working Paper 2021-23 Anneke Kosse

  How do Canadians pay their bills? 2019 survey data collected from over 4,000 Canadian consumers show how people’s bill payment choices vary with consumer characteristics and types of bills. The data also reveal that many consumers feel limited in their choices, which suggests that preferences of billers might play an important role as well.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Econometric and statistical methods, Financial services, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): D, D1, D9, G, G2

• Evolving Temperature Dynamics in Canada: Preliminary Evidence Based on 60 Years of Data

  Staff Working Paper 2021-22 Robert Amano, Marc-André Gosselin, Julien McDonald-Guimond

  Are summers getting hotter? Do daily temperatures change more than they used to? Using daily Canadian temperature data from 1960 to 2020 and modern econometric methods, we provide economists and policy-makers evidence on the important climate change issue of evolving temperatures.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Climate change, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C2, C22, Q, Q5, Q54

• Optimal Monetary and Macroprudential Policies

  Staff Working Paper 2021-21 Josef Schroth

  Optimal coordination of monetary and macroprudential policies implies higher risk weights on (safe) bonds any time that banks are required to hold additional capital buffers. Coordination also implies a somewhat tighter monetary-policy stance whenever such capital buffers are released.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, Inflation targets, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, E6, E60, G, G2, G21, G28

• Four Decades of Canadian Earnings Inequality and Dynamics Across Workers and Firms

  Staff Working Paper 2021-20 Audra Bowlus, Émilien Gouin-Bonenfant, Huju Liu, Lance Lochner, Youngmin Park

  We use four decades of Canadian matched employer-employee data to explore how inequality and the dynamics of individual earnings have evolved over time in Canada. We also examine how the earnings growth of individuals is related to the growth of their employers.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Firm dynamics, Labour markets, Potential output, Productivity JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, D3, D31, E, E2, E24, J, J2, J24, J3, J31, J6, J63

• Payments on Digital Platforms: Resiliency, Interoperability and Welfare

  Staff Working Paper 2021-19 Jonathan Chiu, Tsz-Nga Wong

  This paper studies the business model choice between running a cash platform and a token platform, as well as its welfare and policy implications.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Monetary policy, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E5, L, L5

• Examining the Impact of Home Purchase Restrictions on China’s Housing Market

  Staff Working Paper 2021-18 Zhentong Lu, Sisi Zhang, Jian Hong

  How do “cooling measures” in the housing market—policies aimed to stabilize prices—affect the market? We use a structural model of housing demand and price competition among developers to evaluate China’s home purchase restriction policies implemented in 2010–11.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Housing, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): O, O1, O18, R, R3, R31, R38