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458
result(s)
October 15, 2007
The Global Foreign Exchange Market: Growth and Transformation
Barker examines changes in the foreign exchange market, which is in a period of transition. Since the mid-1990s, three closely inter-related and mutually reinforcing factors–electronic trading platforms, a changing mix of market participants, and computer-driven algorithmic trading strategies–have been accelerating market growth and are creating a profound structural transformation. As the balance of market participation shifts between bank and non-bank accounts, large and small participants, and domestic and global players, the market is adopting some of the characteristics of an "exchange" model and is arguably becoming more liquid and operationally efficient.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Exchange rates,
Financial institutions,
Financial markets
October 13, 2007
Estimating the Cost of Equity for Canadian and U.S. Firms
Financing costs are important for both firms and the economy, affecting investment decisions and, ultimately, economic growth. Despite concern among policy-makers that the cost of equity financing may be higher in Canada than in the United States, empirical evidence supporting this view is mixed. Yet Canadian firms may not undertake as many projects that could potentially enhance growth if the cost of equity financing in Canada is relatively high. The article summarizes research by Jonathan Witmer and Lorie Zorn on the influences on the cost of equity in Canada and the United States, using an updated methodology that controls for firm characteristics and aggregate-level factors. In their sample, the cost of equity was 30–50 basis points higher in Canada over 1988 to 2006 but appears to have dropped in the post-1997 period. The results have policy implications related to such factors as firm size, disclosure, and securities regulation and enforcement.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Financial markets,
International topics
October 12, 2007
Bank of Canada Workshop on Derivatives Markets in Canada and Beyond
At this 2006 workshop hosted by the Bank of Canada, an international group of market participants, regulators, and policy-makers gathered to assess recent developments in the derivatives market. Among the topics discussed were the recent prodigious growth in risk-transfer instruments, including credit derivatives and inflation-linked derivatives, as well as the accompanying challenges and benefits. Overall, the development of derivatives markets was seen as providing broad economic benefits, including more complete financial markets, improved market liquidity, and increased capacity of the financial system to effectively price and bear risk. Yet concern was also voiced that market participants do not fully understand the risks that arise in trading credit derivatives.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Financial markets,
Financial stability,
Financial system regulation and policies
Rediscounting Under Aggregate Risk with Moral Hazard
Staff Working Paper 2007-51
James Chapman,
Antoine Martin
Freeman (1999) proposes a model in which discount window lending and open market operations have different effects. This is important because in most of the literature, these policies are indistinguishable.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Central bank research,
Financial markets,
Payment clearing and settlement systems
JEL Code(s):
E,
E5,
E58,
G,
G2,
G20
Do Firms Adjust Toward a Target Leverage Level?
Staff Working Paper 2007-50
Zhaoxia Xu
This paper studies capital structure adjustment mechanisms of firms that experience substantial changes in leverage.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Financial markets,
International topics
JEL Code(s):
G,
G3,
G32
Examining Simple Joint Macroeconomic and Term-Structure Models: A Practitioner's Perspective
Staff Working Paper 2007-49
David Bolder,
Shudan Liu
The primary objective of this paper is to compare a variety of joint models of the term structure of interest rates and the macroeconomy.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Econometric and statistical methods,
Financial markets,
Interest rates
JEL Code(s):
C,
C0,
C6,
E,
E4,
G,
G1
Estimating and Comparing the Implied Cost of Equity for Canadian and U.S. Firms
Staff Working Paper 2007-48
Jonathan Witmer,
Lorie Zorn
This paper estimates the implied cost of equity for Canadian and U.S. firms using a methodology based on the dividend discount model and utilizing firms' current stock price and analysts' forecasted earnings.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Financial markets,
International topics
JEL Code(s):
G,
G3,
G30,
G38
Implications of Asymmetry Risk for Portfolio Analysis and Asset Pricing
Staff Working Paper 2007-47
Fousseni Chabi-Yo,
Dietmar Leisen,
Eric Renault
Asymmetric shocks are common in markets; securities' payoffs are not normally distributed and exhibit skewness. This paper studies the portfolio holdings of heterogeneous agents with preferences over mean, variance and skewness, and derives equilibrium prices.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Financial markets,
Market structure and pricing
JEL Code(s):
C,
C5,
C52,
D,
D5,
D58,
G,
G1,
G11,
G12
Price Discovery in Canadian and U.S. 10-Year Government Bond Markets
Staff Working Paper 2007-43
Bryan Campbell,
Scott Hendry
This paper presents some new results on the price discovery process in both the Canadian and U.S. 10-year Government bond markets using high-frequency data not previously analyzed. Using techniques introduced by Hasbrouck (1995) and Gonzalo-Granger (1995), we look at the relative information content of cash and futures prices in the market for Canadian Government bonds using futures market data from the Montreal Exchange and OTC cash market data reflecting the inter-dealer market covered by CanPx.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Financial markets,
Market structure and pricing
JEL Code(s):
G,
G1,
G12,
G13,
G14