Staff research

Pricing behaviour and inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from consumer prices microdata

Staff analytical note 2024-6 Olga Bilyk, Mikael Khan, Olena Kostyshyna
Using the microdata underlying the Canadian consumer price index, we study how often and by how much firms changed their prices during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that the surge in inflation was mainly associated with retailers raising prices much more often than before. We also find that more recently, corporate price-setting behaviour appears to be approaching pre-pandemic norms.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, E, E3, E31, L, L1, L11 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Real economy and forecasting

Markups and inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Staff analytical note 2023-8 Olga Bilyk, Timothy Grieder, Mikael Khan
We find that prices and costs for consumer-oriented firms moved roughly one-for-one during the COVID-19 pandemic. This means firms fully passed rising costs through to the prices they charged. However, our results are suggestive, given data limitations and the uncertainty associated with estimating markups.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): D, D2, D4, E, E2, E3, L, L1 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Real economy and forecasting

Core inflation over the COVID-19 pandemic

Staff analytical note 2022-17 Mikael Khan, Elyse Sullivan
We assess the usefulness of various measures of core inflation over the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that Cpi-trim and CPI-median provided the best signal of underlying inflation. The favourable performance of these measures stems from their lack of reliance on historical experience, an especially valuable feature in unprecedented times.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): C, C1, C18, E, E3, E31 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Monetary policy framework and transmission

Housing demand in Canada: A novel approach to classifying mortgaged homebuyers

Staff analytical note 2022-1 Mikael Khan, Yang Xu
We introduce a novel approach to categorize mortgaged homebuyers into first-time homebuyers, repeat homebuyers and investors. We show how these groups contribute to activity in Canadian housing markets, and we analyze the differences in their demographic and financial characteristics.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): R, R2, R21, R3, R31 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Household and business credit

Detecting exuberance in house prices across Canadian cities

Staff analytical note 2021-9 Ugochi Emenogu, Cars Hommes, Mikael Khan
We introduce a model to detect periods of extrapolative house price expectations across Canadian cities. The House Price Exuberance Indicator can be updated on a quarterly basis to support the Bank of Canada’s broader assessment of housing market imbalances.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): C, C5, C53, R, R2, R21, R3, R31 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Household and business credit, Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting

COVID-19’s impact on the financial health of Canadian businesses: An initial assessment

Staff analytical note 2021-8 Timothy Grieder, Mikael Khan, Juan Ortega, Callie Symmers
Despite COVID-19 challenges, bold policy measures in Canada have helped businesses manage cash flow pressures and kept insolvency filings low. But the impact of the pandemic has been uneven, and the financial health of some firms may further deteriorate over the next year.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): G, G3, G31, G32, G33, G38 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Household and business credit

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Bank publications

Bank of Canada Review articles

November 19, 2015

A Survey of Consumer Expectations for Canada

Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2015 Marc-André Gosselin, Mikael Khan
The Bank of Canada recently launched a quarterly survey to measure the expectations of Canadian households: the Canadian Survey of Consumer Expectations (CSCE). The data collected provide comprehensive information about consumer expectations for and uncertainty about inflation, the labour market and household finance. This article describes the CSCE and illustrates its potential to offer rich information about Canadian consumers for researchers and policy-makers.
Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles JEL Code(s): D, D1, D12, D8, D84, E, E3, E31, E5, E52, J, J0
May 13, 2014

Beyond the Unemployment Rate: Assessing Canadian and U.S. Labour Markets Since the Great Recession

Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2014 Konrad Zmitrowicz, Mikael Khan
This article provides a broad perspective on the performance of the labour market in Canada and the United States since the Great Recession. It also presents a simple way to summarize much of this information in a single composite labour market indicator (LMI) for both countries. The LMI suggests that the unemployment rate in Canada has evolved largely in line with overall labour market conditions since the recession, but may have modestly overstated the extent of recent improvement. The U.S. unemployment rate, in contrast, appears to have substantially overstated the post-recession improvement in labour market conditions.
Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, J, J2, J21, J23

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