Bio
Eric Santor was appointed Advisor to the Governor on Digitalization effective March 11, 2019. In this role, he leads the Bank’s digitalization work, including research into the impact of digitalization on the economy and financial system. Mr. Santor also leads the initiative to incorporate technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning as well as big data into the Bank’s operations. This involves leveraging programs such as Partnerships in Innovation and Technology (PIVOT) and the Bank’s relationship with the Creative Destruction Lab.
Mr. Santor joined the Bank in 2001 as an economist in the former Monetary and Financial Analysis Department. He moved to the International Economic Analysis Department in 2003, where he assumed increasing responsibilities until becoming Managing Director in 2013. Before his appointment as Advisor to the Governor on Digitalization, Mr. Santor served as Managing Director of the Bank’s Canadian Economic Analysis Department.
Mr. Santor’s research has focused on issues relating to the incidence and effects of unconventional monetary policy, the international monetary system and global financial architecture, and the impact of ownership structure on Canadian firms.
Mr. Santor was born in London, Ontario. He completed his BA in History and Political Science at Huron College, University of Western Ontario, and his PhD in Economics at the University of Toronto.
Staff discussion papers
Sovereign Default and State-Contingent Debt
The Latin American debt crises in the 1980s and the Asian crisis in the late 1990s both provided impetus for reforming the framework for restructuring sovereign debt. In the late 1980s, the Brady plan established the importance of substantive debt relief in addressing some crises.Reforming the IMF: Lessons from Modern Central Banking
The authors examine the institutional and governance framework of modern central banks to determine whether there are lessons that can be applied to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) institutional framework. Such a comparison is appealing for two reasons. First, both central banks and the IMF carry out tasks that can be described as "delegated responsibilities." […]Staff working papers
Large-Scale Asset Purchases: Impact on Commodity Prices and International Spillover Effects
Prices of commodities, including metals, energy and agricultural products, rose markedly over the 2009–2010 period. Some observers have attributed a significant part of this increase in commodity prices to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s large-scale asset purchase (LSAP) programs.Family Values: Ownership Structure, Performance and Capital Structure of Canadian Firms
This study examines how family ownership affects the performance and capital structure of 613 Canadian firms using a panel dataset from 1998 to 2005.A vision for IMF Surveillance
The ongoing review of the IMF, initiated in 2005 by Managing Director De Rato, presents an excellent opportunity to re-examine the role, functions and governance of the Fund.Governance and the IMF: Does the Fund Follow Corporate Best Practice?
The governance challenges facing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are not simply limited to representation and voice, and the associated question of quota allocation.The International Monetary Fund's Balance-Sheet and Credit Risk
The authors examine the characteristics of International Monetary Fund (IMF) lending from the 1960s to 2005.Degree of Internationalization and Performance: An Analysis of Canadian Banks
The international business literature measures the link between the degree of internationalization (DOI) of a firm's activities and its performance.Financial Constraints and Investment: Assessing the Impact of a World Bank Loan Program on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Sri Lanka
The authors examine the investment behaviour of a sample of small, credit-constrained firms in Sri Lanka. Using a unique panel-data set, they analyze and compare the activities of two groups of small firms distinguished by their different access to financing; one group consists of firms with heavily subsidized loans from the World Bank, and the other consists of firms without such subsidies.Do Peer Group Members Outperform Individual Borrowers? A Test of Peer Group Lending Using Canadian Micro-Credit Data
Microfinance institutions now serve over 10 million poor households in the developing and developed world, and much of their success has been attributed to their innovative use of peer group lending. There is very little empirical evidence, however, to suggest that group lending schemes offer a superior institutional design over lending programs that serve individual borrowers.Banking Crises and Contagion: Empirical Evidence
Recent events, such as the East Asian, Mexican, Scandinavian, and Argentinian crises, have sparked considerable interest in exploring how shocks experienced by one country can spread vis-à-vis real and nominal links to other countries' banking systems. Given the large costs associated with banking-system failures, both economists and policy-makers are interested in predicting the onset of banking crises and assessing the likelihood of contagion during crisis events.Bank publications
Bank of Canada Review articles
May 16, 2016
A New Era of Central Banking: Unconventional Monetary Policies
Central banks can implement unconventional monetary policy measures to provide additional easing when policy interest rates come close to their lower limit. To date, the international experience with tools such as quantitative easing and negative interest rates has been largely positive. Central banks may also use several such measures simultaneously, with often mutually reinforcing effects. Yet, unconventional tools are also subject to potential limits, and the costs associated with these measures could rise with extensive and prolonged use.
May 16, 2013
Unconventional Monetary Policies: Evolving Practices, Their Effects and Potential Costs
Following the recent financial crisis, major central banks have introduced several types of unconventional monetary policy measures, including liquidity and credit facilities, asset purchases and forward guidance. To date, these measures appear to have been successful. They restored market functioning, facilitated the transmission of monetary policy and supported economic activity. They have potential costs, however, including challenges related to the greatly expanded balance sheets of central banks and the eventual exit from these measures, as well as the vulnerabilities that can arise from prolonged monetary accommodation.
November 17, 2011
The International Monetary System: An Assessment and Avenue for Reform
The current international monetary system is in need of reform. This article first provides an assessment of the existing system, highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses. It notes that the system has not facilitated the symmetric and timely adjustment in the real exchange rate necessary to accommodate the integration of China and other emerging-market economies into the global economy. This lack of adjustment contributed to the global financial crisis and recession and, because it is forestalling the required rotation of global demand, is hindering the global recovery. The article then discusses reform of the system that would see all systemically important countries and currency areas adopt market-based and convertible floating exchange rates supported by appropriate monetary, fiscal and financial sector policy frameworks. It also examines the roles of the G-20 countries and major international financial institutions in promoting and facilitating the system’s transition.
May 19, 2011
Unconventional Monetary Policy: The International Experience with Central Bank Asset Purchases
As part of their policy response to the financial crisis of 2007–09, central banks introduced numerous unprecedented monetary policy measures to provide monetary easing. This article defines and documents these measures, focusing on central bank asset purchases and their impact on central bank balance sheets. It then discusses the challenges of identifying the effects of these measures and explores possible exit strategies. The potential costs of these policies are also analyzed, as well as the broader implications for monetary policy frameworks.
March 9, 2010
Inflation Expectations and the Conduct of Monetary Policy: A Review of Recent Evidence and Experience
This article explores the role of inflation expectations in the conduct of monetary policy. It reviews the various measures of inflation expectations used by central banks, including surveys and market-based indicators, and considers their advantages and disadvantages. It examines the critical role of inflation expectations in the framework that central banks use to understand, forecast, and control inflation. It also looks at their role as an indicator of central bank credibility. The behaviour of inflation expectations over the past two years is analyzed and policy conclusions are offered.
April 15, 2007
Renewing the International Monetary Fund: A Review of the Issues
Given the rapid and ongoing integration of the global economy, the International Monetary Fund needs to renew its role, governance structure, and functions if it is to maintain its relevance as the institution charged with promoting global financial stability. Lecavalier and Santor examine the areas of possible reform, including quota, voice, and representation; internal governance; surveillance; lending instruments; finances; and the Fund's role in low-income countries. They also review current Bank of Canada research that supports these reform efforts, including an integrated framework for IMF surveillance recently developed at the Bank.The Economy, Plain and Simple
October 16, 2018
Technology can enhance efficiency and help create new jobs, but challenges like automation's impact on employment also need careful consideration and proactive solutions.
Navigating digital disruption and the economy
Financial System Review articles
Journal publications
Refereed journals
- "Does the Microfinance Lending Model Actually Work?"
(with Rafael Gomez), Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relation, Volume IX, No. 2 Summer/Fall 2008. - "Foreign Asset Risk Exposure, DOI, and Performance: An Analysis of Canadian Banks"
(with Walid Hejazi), Journal of International Business Studies, forthcoming. - "Migration, Social Networks and Credit: Empirical Evidence from Peru"
(with Sonia Laszlo), The Developing Economies, forthcoming. - "Renewing IMF Surveillance: Transparency, Accountability and Independance"
(with Robert Lavigne and Philipp Maier), Review of International Organizations, March 2009, 4: 1. - "Family Values: Ownership Structure, Performance and Capital Structure of Canadian Firms",
(with Michael R. King), Journal of Banking and Finance, 2008, 32: 11, p. 2423-2432. - "Financial Constraints and Investment: Assessing the Impact of a World Bank Loan Program on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Sri Lanka"
(with Varouj Aivazian), Canadian Journal of Economics, 2008, 41: 2, p. 475-500. - "Membership has its privileges: the effect of social capital and neighborhood characteristics on the earnings of microfinance borrowers,"
(with Rafael Gomez), Canadian Journal of Economics, 2001, 34: 4, 943-966
Other
Publications
- "Central Bank Balance Sheets and Long Term Forward Rates,"
(with Eric Santor and Lena Suchanek) In Interest Rates, Prices and Liquidity: Lessons from the Financial Crisis, edited by Jagjits S. Chadha and Sean Holly.New York: Cambridge University Press, p.172-194.