May 21, 2002
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282
result(s)
Does Micro Evidence Support the Wage Phillips Curve in Canada?
Staff Working Paper 2002-4
Jean Farès
The existing macroeconometric evidence lends support to the wage Phillips curve by showing a negative relation between the rate of change in wages and the unemployment rate, conditional on lagged price inflation. Most theoretical models of wage setting, however, generate a "wage curve," described by a negative relation between the level of the real wage and unemployment.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Inflation and prices
JEL Code(s):
J,
J3,
J31
New Phillips Curve with Alternative Marginal Cost Measures for Canada, the United States, and the Euro Area
Staff Working Paper 2001-25
Edith Gagnon,
Hashmat Khan
Recent research on the new Phillips curve (NPC) (e.g., Galí, Gertler, and López-Salido 2001a) gives marginal cost an important role in capturing pressures on inflation. In this paper we assess the case for using alternative measures of marginal cost to improve the empirical fit of the NPC.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Economic models,
Inflation and prices
JEL Code(s):
E,
E3,
E31
On Inflation and the Persistence of Shocks to Output
Staff Working Paper 2001-22
Maral Kichian,
Richard Luger
This paper empirically investigates the possibility that the effects of shocks to output depend on the level of inflation. The analysis extends Elwood's (1998) framework by incorporating in the model an inflation-threshold process that can potentially influence the stochastic properties of output.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Econometric and statistical methods,
Inflation: costs and benefits
JEL Code(s):
E,
E3,
E31,
E32,
E5,
E52,
E58
November 18, 2001
A New Measure of Core Inflation
While the Bank of Canada's inflation-control target is specified in terms of the rate of increase in the total consumer price index, the Bank uses a measure of trend or "core" inflation as a short-term guide for its monetary policy actions. When the inflation targets were renewed in May 2001, the Bank announced that it was adopting a new measure of core inflation. This measure excludes the eight most volatile components of the CPI and adjusts the remaining components for the effect of changes in indirect taxes. In this article, the author discusses the definition of the new measure of core inflation and describes some of its advantages relative to the previous measure. He notes that the new measure has a firmer statistical basis, has a better correspondence with economic theory, and does a better job of predicting future changes in overall inflation. While the new measure has these advantages, the Bank will continue to monitor a broad range of indicators when assessing the likely future path for inflation.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Inflation targets
November 17, 2001
Predictability of Average Inflation over Long Time Horizons
Uncertainty about the level of future inflation adversely affects the economy because it distorts the savings and investment decisions of households and businesses. Since these decisions typically involve planning horizons of many years, the adverse effects from inflation uncertainty can be reduced by adopting a policy framework that makes future inflation more predictable over long time horizons. When the inflation-control target was renewed in May 2001, the agreement affirmed that monetary policy will be directed at moving inflation to the 2 per cent midpoint of the target range over a six-to-eight-quarter horizon. The author describes how this policy commitment increases the predictability of average inflation over periods longer than one year. This relationship is illustrated using the Canadian experience from the inflation-targeting period.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Inflation targets
Evaluating Factor Models: An Application to Forecasting Inflation in Canada
Staff Working Paper 2001-18
Marc-André Gosselin,
Greg Tkacz
This paper evaluates the forecasting performance of factor models for Canadian inflation. This type of model was introduced and examined by Stock and Watson (1999a), who have shown that it is quite promising for forecasting U.S. inflation.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Econometric and statistical methods,
Inflation and prices
JEL Code(s):
C,
C3,
C32,
E,
E3,
E37
Implications of Uncertainty about Long-Run Inflation and the Price Level
Staff Working Paper 2001-16
Gerald Stuber
This paper surveys recent developments in the theoretical and empirical literature on the economic implications of uncertainty about the longer-term outlook for inflation. In particular, the linkages between inflation, long-run inflation uncertainty, and aggregate economic activity in industrial economies have become considerably better understood during the past decade.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Inflation: costs and benefits
JEL Code(s):
E,
E2,
E22,
E3,
E31,
E4,
E44
Gaining Credibility for Inflation Targets
Staff Working Paper 2001-11
James Yetman
In this paper, I consider a simple model in which agents learn about the inflation target of a central bank over time by observing the policy instrument or inflation outcomes. Measuring credibility as the distance between the perceived target and the actual target, an increase in credibility is beneficial to the central bank because it brings the policy consistent with attaining the inflation target closer to that required to attain the output target.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Credibility,
Inflation targets
JEL Code(s):
E,
E5,
E52
How Rigid Are Nominal-Wage Rates?
Staff Working Paper 2001-8
Allan Crawford
This study examines the effect of nominal-wage rigidities on wage growth in Canada using a hazard model and micro data for union contracts. The hazard model is specified in a way that allows considerable flexibility in the shape of the estimated notional wage-change distribution.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Inflation targets,
Labour markets
JEL Code(s):
E,
E2,
E24,
E5,
E52,
E6,
E61