C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods

• Predicting Changes in Canadian Housing Markets with Machine Learning

  Staff Discussion Paper 2023-21 Johan Brannlund, Helen Lao, Maureen MacIsaac, Jing Yang

  We apply two machine learning algorithms to forecast monthly growth of house prices and existing homes sales in Canada. Although the algorithms can sometimes outperform a linear model, the improvement in forecast accuracy is not always statistically significant.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial markets, Housing JEL Code(s): A, C, C4, C45, C5, C53, D, D2, R, R2, R3

• Forecasting Risks to the Canadian Economic Outlook at a Daily Frequency

  Staff Discussion Paper 2023-19 Chinara Azizova, Bruno Feunou, James Kyeong

  This paper quantifies tail risks in the outlooks for Canadian inflation and real GDP growth by estimating their conditional distributions at a daily frequency. We show that the tail risk probabilities derived from the conditional distributions accurately reflect realized outcomes during the sample period from 2002 to 2022.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C3, C32, C5, C58, E, E4, E44, G, G1, G17

• Combining Large Numbers of Density Predictions with Bayesian Predictive Synthesis

  Staff Working Paper 2023-45 Tony Chernis

  I show how to combine large numbers of forecasts using several approaches within the framework of a Bayesian predictive synthesis. I find techniques that choose and combine a handful of forecasts, known as global-local shrinkage priors, perform best.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C1, C11, C5, C52, C53, E, E3, E37

• Digitalization: Implications for Monetary Policy

  Staff Discussion Paper 2023-18 Vivian Chu, Tatjana Dahlhaus, Christopher Hajzler, Pierre-Yves Yanni

  We explore the implications of digitalization for monetary policy, both in terms of how monetary policy affects the economy and in terms of data analysis and communication with the public.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Digitalization, Inflation and prices, Market structure and pricing, Monetary policy, Monetary policy communications, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): C, C4, C8, E, E3, E31, E32, E5, E52

• Unmet Payment Needs and a Central Bank Digital Currency

  Staff Discussion Paper 2023-15 Christopher Henry, Walter Engert, Alexandra Sutton-Lalani, Sebastian Hernandez, Darcey McVanel, Kim Huynh

  We discuss the payment habits of Canadians both in the current payment environment and in a hypothetical cashless environment.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech, Financial services JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, C9, E, E4, O, O5, O54

• Generalized Autoregressive Gamma Processes

  Staff Working Paper 2023-40 Bruno Feunou

  We introduce generalized autoregressive gamma (GARG) processes, a class of autoregressive and moving-average processes in which each conditional moment dynamic is driven by a different and identifiable moving average of the variable of interest. We show that using GARG processes reduces pricing errors by substantially more than using existing autoregressive gamma processes does.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Asset pricing, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C5, C58, G, G1, G12

• Is Money Essential? An Experimental Approach

  Staff Working Paper 2023-39 Janet Hua Jiang, Peter Norman, Daniela Puzzello, Bruno Sultanum, Randall Wright

  Monetary theory says that money is essential if it helps to achieve better incentive-feasible outcomes. We test this in the laboratory.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Economic models JEL Code(s): C, C9, C92, E, E4, E5

• Cryptoasset Ownership and Use in Canada: An Update for 2022

  Staff Discussion Paper 2023-14 Daniela Balutel, Christopher Henry, Doina Rusu

  We find that Bitcoin ownership declined from 13% in 2021 to 10% in 2022. This drop occurred against a background of steep price declines and an increasingly tight regulatory atmosphere.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C8, C81, E, E4, O, O5, O51

• Is Climate Transition Risk Priced into Corporate Credit Risk? Evidence from Credit Default Swaps

  Staff Working Paper 2023-38 Andrea Ugolini, Juan C. Reboredo, Javier Ojea Ferreiro

  We study whether the credit derivatives of firms reflect the risk from climate transition. We find that climate transition risk has asymmetric and significant economic impacts on the credit risk of more vulnerable firms, and negligible effects on other firms.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Climate change, Credit risk management, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C2, C24, G, G1, G12, G3, G32, Q, Q5, Q54

• Global Demand and Supply Sentiment: Evidence from Earnings Calls

  Staff Working Paper 2023-37 Temel Taskin, Franz Ulrich Ruch

  This paper quantifies global demand, supply and uncertainty shocks and compares two major global recessions: the 2008–09 Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. We use two alternate approaches to decompose economic shocks: text mining techniques on earnings calls transcripts and a structural Bayesian vector autoregression model.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Econometric and statistical methods, Inflation and prices, International topics JEL Code(s): C, C1, C11, C3, C32, E, E3, E32, G, G1, G10