E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

• Price-Level Dispersion versus Inflation-Rate Dispersion: Evidence from Three Countries

  Staff Working Paper 2017-3 David Fielding, Christopher Hajzler, James (Jim) C. MacGee

  Inflation can affect both the dispersion of commodity-specific price levels across locations (relative price variability, RPV) and the dispersion of inflation rates (relative inflation variability, RIV). Some menu-cost models and models of consumer search suggest that the RIV-inflation relationship could differ from the RPV-inflation relationship.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E5, E50

• A Dynamic Factor Model for Nowcasting Canadian GDP Growth

  Staff Working Paper 2017-2 Tony Chernis, Rodrigo Sekkel

  This paper estimates a dynamic factor model (DFM) for nowcasting Canadian gross domestic product. The model is estimated with a mix of soft and hard indicators, and it features a high share of international data.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C3, C32, C38, C5, C53, E, E3, E37

• Terms-of-Trade and House Price Fluctuations: A Cross-Country Study

  Staff Working Paper 2017-1 Paul Corrigan

  Terms-of-trade shocks are known to be key drivers of business cycles in open economies. This paper argues that terms-of-trade shocks were also important for house price fluctuations in a panel of developed countries over the 1994–2015 period.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial stability, Housing, International topics JEL Code(s): C, C3, C32, E, E3, E32, E5, E51, F, F3, F36, F4, F41

• Can the Common-Factor Hypothesis Explain the Observed Housing Wealth Effect?

  Staff Working Paper 2016-62 Narayan Bulusu, Jefferson Duarte, Carles Vergara-Alert

  The common-factor hypothesis is one possible explanation for the housing wealth effect. Under this hypothesis, house price appreciation is related to changes in consumption as long as the available proxies for the common driver of housing and non-housing demand are noisy and housing supply is not perfectly elastic.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Housing JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, R, R3, R31

• What Fed Funds Futures Tell Us About Monetary Policy Uncertainty

  Staff Working Paper 2016-61 Jean-Sébastien Fontaine

  The uncertainty around future changes to the Federal Reserve target rate varies over time. In our results, the main driver of uncertainty is a “path” factor signaling information about future policy actions, which is filtered from federal funds futures data.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Asset pricing, Financial markets, Interest rates JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, E44, E47, G, G1, G12, G13

• Monetary Policy, Private Debt and Financial Stability Risks

  Staff Working Paper 2016-59 Gregory Bauer, Eleonora Granziera

  Can monetary policy be used to promote financial stability? We answer this question by estimating the impact of a monetary policy shock on private-sector leverage and the likelihood of a financial crisis. Impulse responses obtained from a panel VAR model of 18 advanced countries suggest that the debt-to-GDP ratio rises in the short run following an unexpected tightening in monetary policy.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial stability, Monetary policy, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): C, C2, C21, C23, E, E5, E52, E58

• Quantitative Easing in a Small Open Economy: An International Portfolio Balancing Approach

  Staff Working Paper 2016-55 Serdar Kabaca

  This paper studies the effects of quantitative easing (QE) in a small open economy dynamic stochastic general-equilibrium model with international portfolio balancing. Portfolios are classified as imperfectly substitutable short-term and long-term subportfolios, each including domestic and foreign bonds.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): International topics, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, F, F4, F41

• Comparing Forward Guidance and Neo-Fisherianism as Strategies for Escaping Liquidity Traps

  Staff Analytical Note 2016-16 Robert Amano, Thomas J. Carter, Rhys R. Mendes

  What path should policy-makers select for the nominal rate when faced with a liquidity trap during which the effective lower bound binds?

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Central bank research, Economic models, Inflation and prices, Interest rates, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E4, E5

• Capital Flows to Developing Countries: Is There an Allocation Puzzle?

  Staff Working Paper 2016-53 Josef Schroth

  Foreign direct investment inflows are positively related to growth across developing countries—but so are savings in excess of investment. I develop an explanation for this well-established puzzle by focusing on the limited availability of consumer credit in developing countries together with general equilibrium effects.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Foreign reserves management, Interest rates, International financial markets JEL Code(s): E, E1, E13, E2, E21, F, F4, F43

• Supervising Financial Regulators

  Staff Working Paper 2016-52 Josef Schroth

  How much discretion should local financial regulators in a banking union have in accommodating local credit demand? I analyze this question in an economy where local regulators privately observe expected output from high lending. They do not fully internalize default costs from high lending since deposit insurance cannot be priced fairly.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, G, G2, G28, H, H7