Staff analytical notes

• The uneven economic consequences of COVID 19: A structural analysis

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-17 Martin Kuncl, Austin McWhirter, Alexander Ueberfeldt

  Using a structural model, we study the economic consequences of the COVID-19 shock. The uneven consequences, such as higher unemployment among young households, amplify the negative implications for the macroeconomy, household vulnerabilities and consumption inequality. Government support programs have stimulated the economy and lowered inequality and medium-term vulnerabilities.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Fiscal policy, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): E, E2, E20, E5, E52, E6, E62

• Exploring the potential benefits of inflation overshooting

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-16 Robert Amano, Marc-André Gosselin, Kurt See

  After a period with the interest rate at the effective lower bound, temporarily overshooting inflation may offer important economic benefits. This may be especially true for vulnerable segments of the population, such as workers with low attachment to the labour force and the long-term unemployed.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Inflation targets, Labour markets, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E5, E52, J, J2, J20

• BoC–BoE Sovereign Default Database: What’s new in 2021?

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-15 David Beers, Elliot Jones, Zacharie Quiviger, John Walsh

  The BoC–BoE database of sovereign debt defaults, published and updated annually by the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, provides comprehensive estimates of stocks of government obligations in default.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Debt management, Development economics, Financial stability, International financial markets JEL Code(s): F, F3, F34, G, G1, G10, G14, G15

• Small and smaller: How the economic outlook of small firms relates to size

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-14 Chris D'Souza, James Fudurich, Farrukh Suvankulov

  Firms with fewer than 100 workers employ about 65 percent of the total labour force in Canada. An online survey experiment was conducted with firms of this size in Canada in 2018–19. We compare the responses of small and micro firms to explore how their characteristics and economic outlooks relate to their size.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Firm dynamics JEL Code(s): C, C8, C83, D, D2, D22, E, E3, E32

• 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