E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

• Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity in Canada: Evidence Against a “Greasing Effect”

  Staff Working Paper 2017-31 Joel Wagner

  The existence of downward nominal wage rigidity (DNWR) has often been used to justify a positive inflation target. It is traditionally assumed that positive inflation could “grease the wheels” of the labour market by putting downward pressure on real wages, easing labour market adjustments during a recession.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation targets, Labour markets JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E5, E52

• Fintech: Is This Time Different? A Framework for Assessing Risks and Opportunities for Central Banks

  Staff Discussion Paper 2017-10 Meyer Aaron, Francisco Rivadeneyra, Samantha Sohal

  We investigate the risks and opportunities to the mandates of central banks arising from fintech developments.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech, Financial institutions, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, G, G1, G2, L, L1

• Adoption of a New Payment Method: Theory and Experimental Evidence

  Staff Working Paper 2017-28 Jasmina Arifovic, John Duffy, Janet Hua Jiang

  We model the introduction of a new payment method, e.g., e-money, that competes with an existing payment method, e.g., cash. The new payment method involves relatively lower per-transaction costs for both buyers and sellers, but sellers must pay a fixed fee to accept the new payment method.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech JEL Code(s): C, C3, C35, C8, C83, C9, C92, E, E4, E41

• Quantitative Easing and Long‐Term Yields in Small Open Economies

  Staff Working Paper 2017-26 Antonio Diez de los Rios, Maral Shamloo

  We compare the Federal Reserve’s asset purchase programs with those implemented by the Bank of England and the Swedish Riksbank, and the Swiss National Bank’s reserve expansion program.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial markets, Interest rates, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, E5, E52, E58, G, G1, G12

• Monetary Policy Implementation in a Negative Rate Environment

  Staff Working Paper 2017-25 Michael Boutros, Jonathan Witmer

  Monetary policy implementation could, in theory, be constrained by deeply negative rates since overnight market participants may have an incentive to invest in cash rather than lend to other participants.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Interest rates, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy implementation JEL Code(s): E, E4, E40, E42, E43, G, G0

• Labour Force Participation: A Comparison of the United States and Canada

  Staff Analytical Note 2017-9 James Ketcheson, Natalia Kyui, Benoit Vincent

  This note explores the drivers behind the recent increase in the US participation rate in the labour market and assesses the likelihood of a similar gain in Canada. The growth in the US participation rate has largely been due to a pickup in the participation of prime-age workers following a post-recession decline.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Labour markets, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, J, J2, J21

• Wage Growth in Canada and the United States: Factors Behind Recent Weakness

  Staff Analytical Note 2017-8 Dany Brouillette, James Ketcheson, Olena Kostyshyna, Jonathan Lachaine

  This note examines the relatively subdued pace of wage growth in Canada since the commodity price decline in 2014 and assesses whether the weakness is attributable to cyclical (e.g., labour market slack) or structural factors (e.g., resource reallocation and demographic change).

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Labour markets, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, J, J3, J30

• A Structural Interpretation of the Recent Weakness in Business Investment

  Staff Analytical Note 2017-7 Russell Barnett, Rhys R. Mendes

  Since 2012, business investment growth has slowed considerably in advanced economies, averaging a little less than 2 per cent versus the 4 per cent growth rates experienced in the period leading up to crisis. Several recent studies have attributed a large part of the weakness in business investment to cyclical factors, including soft aggregate demand, and, to a lesser degree, heightened uncertainty and tighter financial conditions.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Domestic demand and components, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): E, E2, E22, E3, E37

• Understanding Monetary Policy and its Effects: Evidence from Canadian Firms Using the Business Outlook Survey

  Staff Working Paper 2017-24 Matthieu Verstraete, Lena Suchanek

  This paper shows (i) that business sentiment, as captured by survey data, matters for monetary policy decisions in Canada, and (ii) how business perspectives are affected by monetary policy shocks. Measures of business sentiment (soft data) are shown to have systematic explanatory power for monetary policy decisions over and above typical Taylor rule variables.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Firm dynamics, Interest rates, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, E, E4, E44, E5, E52

• Understanding the Cross‐Country Effects of US Technology Shocks

  Staff Working Paper 2017-23 Thuy Lan Nguyen, Wataru Miyamoto

  Business cycles are substantially correlated across countries. Yet most existing models are not able to generate substantial transmission through international trade. We show that the nature of such transmission depends fundamentally on the features determining the responsiveness of labor supply and labor demand to international relative prices.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Economic models, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E3, E30, F, F4, F41, F44, F6, F62