E3 - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles

• Markups in Canada: Have They Changed and Why?

  Staff Working Paper 2008-7 Danny Leung

  Many empirical studies have examined the cyclical nature of the markup ratio. Until recently, few have attempted to ascertain the changes in the markup over a longer time horizon.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, F, F4, F41, L, L1, L11

• Inflation Targeting and Price-Level-Path Targeting in the GEM: Some Open Economy Considerations

  Staff Working Paper 2008-6 Donald Coletti, René Lalonde, Dirk Muir

  This paper compares the performance of simple inflation targeting (IT) and price-level path targeting (PLPT) rules to stabilize the macroeconomy, in response to a series of shocks, similar to those seen in Canada and the United States over the 1983 to 2004 period.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Economic models, Inflation and prices, Inflation: costs and benefits, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): C, C5, C51, C52, E, E1, E17, E3, E31, E5, E52

• Adopting Price-Level Targeting under Imperfect Credibility

  Staff Working Paper 2008-3 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 Research Topic(s): Credibility, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E5, E52

• The Impact of Emerging Asia on Commodity Prices

  Staff Working Paper 2007-55 Sylvie Morin, Calista Cheung

  Over the past 5 years, real energy and non-energy commodity prices have trended sharply higher. These relative price movements have had important implications for inflation and economic activity in both Canada and the rest of the world. China has accounted for the bulk of incremental demand for oil and many base metals over this period.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E3, F, F4, O, O1, O19, Q, Q1, Q11

• Price-Level Targeting and Stabilization Policy: A Review

  Staff Discussion Paper 2007-11 Steve Ambler

  The author surveys recent articles on the costs and benefits of price-level targeting versus inflation targeting, focusing on the benefits and costs of price-level targeting as a tool for stabilization policy. He reviews papers that examine how price-level targeting affects the short-run trade-off between output and inflation variability by influencing expectations of future inflation. The […]

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E32, E5, E52

• The Direct Effect of China on Canadian Consumer Prices: An Empirical Assessment

  Staff Discussion Paper 2007-10 Louis Morel

  The author investigates the direct effect of Chinese imported goods on consumer prices in Canada. On average, over the 2001–06 period, the direct effect of consumer goods imported from China is estimated to have reduced the inflation rate by about 0.1 percentage points per year. This disinflationary effect is due to two causes: first, the […]

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31

• The Bank of Canada's Version of the Global Economy Model (BoC-GEM)

  Technical Report No. 98 René Lalonde, Dirk Muir

  The Bank of Canada's version of the Global Economy Model (BoC-GEM) is derived from the model created at the International Monetary Fund by Douglas Laxton (IMF) and Paolo Pesenti (Federal Reserve Bank of New York and National Bureau of Economic Research).

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Technical reports Research Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Economic models, International topics JEL Code(s): C, C6, C68, E, E2, E27, E3, E37, F, F3, F32, F4, F47

• Endogenously Segmented Asset Market in an Inventory Theoretic Model of Money Demand

  Staff Working Paper 2007-46 Jonathan Chiu

  This paper studies the effects of monetary policy in an inventory theoretic model of money demand. In this model, agents keep inventories of money, despite the fact that money is dominated in rate of return by interest bearing assets, because they must pay a fixed cost to transfer funds between the asset market and the goods market.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E4, E41, E5, E50

• Canada's Pioneering Experience with a Flexible Exchange Rate in the 1950s: (Hard) Lessons Learned for Monetary Policy in a Small Open Economy

  Staff Working Paper 2007-45 Michael Bordo, Ali Dib, Lawrence L. Schembri

  This paper revisits Canada's pioneering experience with floating exchange rate over the period 1950–1962. It examines whether the floating rate was the best option for Canada in the 1950s by developing and estimating a New Keynesian small open economy model of the Canadian economy.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Economic models, Exchange rates JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E37, F, F3, F31, F32, N, N1

• Cyclical Behavior of Debt and Equity Using a Panel of Canadian Firms

  Staff Working Paper 2007-44 Francisco Covas, Wouter den Haan

  We document the cyclical behavior of debt, equity, and retained earnings for different firm categories using firm-level Canadian data.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, G, G3, G32