Staff working papers

• Which Bank is the "Central" Bank? An Application of Markov Theory to the Canadian Large Value Transfer System

  Staff Working Paper 2008-42 Morten Bech, James Chapman, Rodney J. Garratt

  We use a method similar to Google's PageRank procedure to rank banks in the Canadian Large Value Transfer System (LVTS). Along the way we obtain estimates of the payment processing speeds for the individual banks.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): C, C1, C11, E, E5, E50, G, G2, G20

• Are There Canada-U.S. Differences in SME Financing?

  Staff Working Paper 2008-41 Danny Leung, Césaire Meh, Yaz Terajima

  Previous surveys of Canadian and U.S. business owners suggest that access to financing in Canada may be more problematic than in the United States. Using the 2003 Survey of Small Business Financing in the United States and the 2004 Survey on Financing of Small and Medium Enterprises in Canada, this paper examines whether this perception can be better quantified.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial services JEL Code(s): C, C2, C21, G, G2, G21

• Price Level Targeting in a Small Open Economy with Financial Frictions: Welfare Analysis

  Staff Working Paper 2008-40 Ali Dib, Caterina Mendicino, Yahong Zhang

  How important are the benefits of low price-level uncertainty? This paper explores the desirability of price-level path targeting in an estimated DSGE model fit to Canadian data. The policy implications are based on social welfare evaluations.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial stability, Inflation and prices, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E32, E5, E52

• Import Price Dynamics in Major Advanced Economies and Heterogeneity in Exchange Rate Pass-Through

  Staff Working Paper 2008-39 Stephane Dees, Matthias Burgert, Nicolas Parent

  This paper aims at showing heterogeneity in the degree of exchange rate pass-through to import prices in major advanced economies at three different levels: 1) across destination markets; 2) across types of exporters (distinguishing developed economy from emerging economy exporters); and 3) over time.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rates, Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, F, F3, F4, F41

• A Model of Costly Capital Reallocation and Aggregate Productivity

  Staff Working Paper 2008-38 Shutao Cao

  The author studies the effects of capital reallocation (the flow of productive capital across firms and establishments mainly through changes in ownership) on aggregate labour productivity. Capital reallocation is an important activity in the United States: on average, its total value is 3–4 per cent of U.S. GDP.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Productivity JEL Code(s): E, E2, E22, L, L1, L16

• Adopting Price-Level Targeting under Imperfect Credibility: An Update

  Staff Working Paper 2008-37 Oleksiy Kryvtsov, Malik Shukayev, Alexander Ueberfeldt

  This paper measures the welfare gains of switching from inflation-targeting to price-level targeting under imperfect credibility. Vestin (2006) shows that when the monetary authority cannot commit to future policy, price-level targeting yields higher welfare than inflation targeting.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credibility, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E5, E52

• The Role of Bank Capital in the Propagation of Shocks

  Staff Working Paper 2008-36 Césaire Meh, Kevin Moran

  Recent events in financial markets have underlined the importance of analyzing the link between the financial health of banks and real economic activity. This paper contributes to this analysis by constructing a dynamic general equilibrium model in which the balance sheet of banks affects the propagation of shocks.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Financial institutions, Financial system regulation and policies, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, E5, E52, G, G2, G21

• Globalization and Inflation: The Role of China

  Staff Working Paper 2008-35 Denise Côté, Carlos De Resende

  In this paper, we develop a theoretical model which identifies four channels–import prices, competition with domestic suppliers and workers, and commodity prices–through which price- and wage-setting conditions in country j may affect inflation in country i.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): International topics JEL Code(s): E, E2, E22, E3, E32, E4, E44

• Combining Canadian Interest-Rate Forecasts

  Staff Working Paper 2008-34 David Bolder, Yuliya Romanyuk

  Model risk is a constant danger for financial economists using interest-rate forecasts for the purposes of monetary policy analysis, portfolio allocations, or risk-management decisions. Use of multiple models does not necessarily solve the problem as it greatly increases the work required and still leaves the question "which model forecast should one use?"

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Interest rates JEL Code(s): C, C1, C11, E, E4, E43, E47

• Human Capital Risk and the Firmsize Wage Premium

  Staff Working Paper 2008-33 Danny Leung, Alexander Ueberfeldt

  Why do employed persons in large firms earn more than employed persons in small firms, even after controlling for observable characteristics? Complementary to previous results, this paper proposes a mechanism that gives an answer to this question.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Labour markets, Productivity JEL Code(s): J, J2, J24, J3, J31