Staff analytical notes are short articles that focus on topical issues relevant to the current economic and financial context.
234
result(s)
Tattle-tails: Gauging downside risks using option prices
Staff Analytical Note 2023-13
Greg Adams,
Maksym Tupis
Options markets offer unique insights into the changing risks different assets face, which helps us better understand the broader risks to the Canadian economy. We show how option prices help reveal that investors did not anticipate large downside risks to either major Canadian banks or economic growth during the March 2023 financial sector system stress, a period when policy-makers and investors were unsure of what the future held for Canada’s economy.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff analytical notes
Topic(s):
Financial markets,
Monetary policy and uncertainty,
Recent economic and financial developments
JEL Code(s):
E,
E4,
E44,
E5,
E52
The contribution of firm profits to the recent rise in inflation
Staff Analytical Note 2023-12
Panagiotis Bouras,
Christian Bustamante,
Xing Guo,
Jacob Short
We measure the contribution to inflation from the growth in markups of Canadian firms. The dynamics of inflation and markups suggest that changes in markups could account for less than one-tenth of inflation in 2021. Further, they suggest that peak inflation was driven primarily by changes in the costs of firms.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff analytical notes
Topic(s):
Firm dynamics,
Inflation and prices,
Market structure and pricing
JEL Code(s):
D,
D2,
D22,
D4,
E,
E3,
E31,
L,
L1,
L11
Do hedge funds support liquidity in the Government of Canada bond market?
Staff Analytical Note 2023-11
Jabir Sandhu,
Rishi Vala
While Government of Canada bond transactions of hedge funds are typically in the opposite direction to those of other market participants, during the peak period of market turmoil in March 2020, hedge funds sold these bonds, just as other market participants did. This shows that hedge funds can at times contribute to one-sided markets and amplify declines in market liquidity.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff analytical notes
Topic(s):
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19),
Financial markets,
Financial stability,
Market structure and pricing
JEL Code(s):
D,
D4,
D47,
D5,
D53,
G,
G1,
G12,
G14,
G2,
G23
BoC–BoE Sovereign Default Database: What’s new in 2023?
Staff Analytical Note 2023-10
David Beers,
Obiageri Ndukwe,
Karim McDaniels,
Alex Charron
The BoC–BoE database of sovereign debt defaults, published and updated annually by the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, provides comprehensive estimates of stocks of government obligations in default. The 2023 edition includes a new section about the characteristics of sovereign defaults and provides new visuals showing regional debt in default.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff analytical notes
Topic(s):
Debt management,
Development economics,
Financial stability,
International financial markets
JEL Code(s):
F,
F3,
F34,
G,
G1,
G10,
G14,
G15
It takes a panel to predict the future: What the stock market says about future economic growth in Canada
Staff Analytical Note 2023-9
Greg Adams,
Jean-Sébastien Fontaine
Valuation ratios in the Canadian stock market can help reveal investors’ expectations about future economic growth because the impact of economic growth on valuation ratios can vary across industries. We find that this variation helps produce accurate forecasts of future growth of real gross domestic product in Canada. The forecasts from our model declined by just over 3 percentage points between January 2022 and February 2023—a period when the Bank of Canada rapidly increased the overnight rate. As well, we find that interest-rate-sensitive industries had an outsized contribution to this expected slowdown in growth.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff analytical notes
Topic(s):
Asset pricing,
Financial markets,
Monetary policy transmission
JEL Code(s):
E,
E4,
E44,
E47,
E5,
E52
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
Topic(s):
Firm dynamics,
Inflation and prices
JEL Code(s):
D,
D2,
D4,
E,
E2,
E3,
L,
L1
Benchmarks for assessing labour market health: 2023 update
Staff Analytical Note 2023-7
Erik Ens,
Kurt See,
Corinne Luu
We enhance benchmarks for assessing strength in the Canadian labour market. We find the labour market remains tight despite recent strong increases in labour supply, including among prime-working-age women. We also assess the anticipated easing in labour conditions in a context of high population growth.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff analytical notes
Topic(s):
Business fluctuations and cycles,
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19),
Econometric and statistical methods,
Labour markets,
Monetary policy
JEL Code(s):
E,
E2,
E24,
J,
J2,
J21,
J6
Potential output and the neutral rate in Canada: 2023 assessment
Staff Analytical Note 2023-6
Julien Champagne,
Christopher Hajzler,
Dmitry Matveev,
Harlee Melinchuk,
Antoine Poulin-Moore,
Galip Kemal Ozhan,
Youngmin Park,
Temel Taskin
We expect that potential output growth will rebound from 1.4% in 2022 to 2.2% on average between 2023 and 2026. We revised down our estimates of growth over 2022–25 relative to the April 2022 assessment. The Canadian nominal neutral rate remains unchanged—in the range of 2% to 3%.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff analytical notes
Topic(s):
Economic models,
Interest rates,
Labour markets,
Monetary policy,
Potential output,
Productivity
JEL Code(s):
E,
E2,
E3,
E4,
E5
Assessing global potential output growth and the US neutral rate: April 2023
Staff Analytical Note 2023-5
Salma Ahmed,
Aviel Avshalumov,
Tania Chaar,
Eshini Ekanayake,
Helen Lao,
Louis Poirier,
Jenna Rolland-Mills,
Argyn Toktamyssov,
Lin Xiang
We expect global potential output growth to increase from 2.5% in 2022 to 2.8% by 2026. Compared with the April 2022 staff assessment, global potential output growth is marginally slower. The current range for the US neutral rate is 2% to 3%, unchanged from the last annual assessment.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff analytical notes
Topic(s):
Interest rates,
Monetary policy,
Potential output,
Productivity
JEL Code(s):
E,
E1,
E2,
E4,
E5,
F,
F0,
O,
O4