Bio

Hongyu is a Senior Economist in the Currency Department/Economic Research and Analysis at the Bank of Canada. He is an Applied Microeconomist whose research focuses on Urban and Regional Economics, Economics of Innovation and Industrial Organization.

Research Field(s): Applied Microeconomics Banking Industrial Organization Urban and Regional Economics

Staff analytical notes

How do Canadians perceive access to cash?

Staff Analytical Note 2024-24 Heng Chen, Daneal O’Habib, Hongyu Xiao
This paper introduces a subjective measure of cash accessibility in Canada, complementing existing distance-based metrics developed by Chen, O’Habib and Xiao (2023). Analyzing data from the 2023 Methods-of-Payment Survey, this study explores how Canadians perceive their ease of accessing cash from automated banking machines (ABMs) and financial institution branches.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Bank notes, Financial services, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): J, J1, J15, O, O1, R, R5, R51

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Staff discussion papers

How Far Do Canadians Need to Travel to Access Cash?

Staff Discussion Paper 2023-28 Heng Chen, Daneal O’Habib, Hongyu Xiao
This paper develops a travel-based metric to measure Canadians’ access to cash from automated banking machines (ABMs) and financial institution branches. We find that, overall, access to cash remained stable between 2019 and 2022. The total number of ABMs in Canada increased by 3.7% and the total number of branches decreased by 5.2% during that period.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Financial services, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): G, G2, G21, J, J1, J15, R, R5, R51

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Staff working papers

Demand for Canadian Banknotes from International Travel: Indirect Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Staff Working Paper 2024-23 Hongyu Xiao
This study uses the COVID-19 travel restrictions to estimate foreign demand for Canadian banknotes. It reveals that international visitors accounted for about 10% of all $100 CAD notes in circulation pre-pandemic, with each visitor carrying an average of $165 in hundred-dollar bills.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Central bank research, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Financial services, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42, E5, E58, F, F2, F22

Geographical and Cultural Proximity in Retail Banking

Staff Working Paper 2023-2 Santiago Carbo-Valverde, Héctor Pérez Saiz, Hongyu Xiao
This paper measures how both geographical and cultural proximity of bank branches affect household credit choice and pricing. For credit products that require high levels of ex-ante screening, we find that both proximities can complement each other in reducing the cost of providing soft information, thereby increasing credit access.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial institutions, Financial services JEL Code(s): D, D8, D82, D83, G, G2, G20, G21, R, R2, R22, Z, Z1, Z10, Z13

Early Warning of Financial Stress Events: A Credit-Regime-Switching Approach

Staff Working Paper 2016-21 Fuchun Li, Hongyu Xiao
We propose an early warning model for predicting the likelihood of a financial stress event for a given future time, and examine whether credit plays an important role in the model as a non-linear propagator of shocks.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial stability JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, C14, G, G0, G01, G1, G17

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Journal publications

Journal Articles

“Cultural Affinity, Regulation, and Market Structure: Evidence from the Canadian Retail Banking Industry”
(with Hector Perez-Saiz) in American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, vol. 14 – issue 1, p. 451-489, February 2022.

“Commuting and Innovation: Are Closer Inventors More Productive?”
(with Andy Wu and Jaeho Kim) in Journal of Urban Economics, vol. 121, p. 103300, January 2021.