Staff working papers provide a forum for staff to publish work-in-progress research intended for journal publication.
1302
result(s)
How Long Does It Take You to Pay? A Duration Study of Canadian Retail Transaction Payment Times
Staff Working Paper 2018-46
Geneviève Vallée
Using an exclusive data set of payment times for retail transactions made in Canada, I show that cash is the most time-efficient method of payment (MOP) when compared with payments by debit and credit cards. I model payment efficiency using Cox proportional hazard models, accounting for consumer choice of MOP.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Bank notes,
Econometric and statistical methods,
Payment clearing and settlement systems
JEL Code(s):
C,
C2,
C25,
C3,
C36,
C4,
C41,
D,
D2,
D23,
E,
E4,
E41,
E42
Blockchain-Based Settlement for Asset Trading
Staff Working Paper 2018-45
Jonathan Chiu,
Thorsten Koeppl
Can securities be settled on a blockchain and, if so, what are the gains relative to existing settlement systems? We consider a blockchain that ensures delivery versus payment by linking transfers of assets with payments and operates using a proof-of-work protocol. The main benefit of a blockchain is faster and more flexible settlement, whereas the challenge is to avoid settlement fails when participants fork the chain to get rid of trading losses.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Digital currencies and fintech,
Economic models,
Financial markets,
Payment clearing and settlement systems
JEL Code(s):
G,
G2,
H,
H4,
P,
P4,
P43
Price Selection
Staff Working Paper 2018-44
Carlos Carvalho,
Oleksiy Kryvtsov
We propose a simple, model-free way to measure selection in price setting and its contribution to inflation dynamics. The proposed measure of price selection is based on the observed comovement between inflation and the average level from which adjusting prices depart.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Business fluctuations and cycles,
Inflation and prices,
Monetary policy transmission
JEL Code(s):
E,
E3,
E31,
E5,
E51
Market Size and Entry in International Trade: Product Versus Firm Fixed Costs
Staff Working Paper 2018-43
Walter Steingress
This paper develops a theoretical framework to infer the nature of fixed costs from the relationship between entry patterns in international markets and destination market size. If fixed costs are at the firm level, firms take advantage of an intrafirm spillover by expanding firm-level product range (scope).
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Firm dynamics,
International topics,
Trade integration
JEL Code(s):
F,
F1,
F12,
F14,
F2,
F23
Responding to the First Era of Globalization: Canadian Trade Policy, 1870–1913
Staff Working Paper 2018-42
Ian Keay,
Patrick Alexander
In this paper we document Canada’s trade policy response to late-nineteenth- and earlytwentieth-century globalization. We link newly digitized annual product-specific data on the value of Canadian imports and duties paid from 1870–1913 to establishment-specific production and location information drawn from the manuscripts of the 1871 industrial census.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Economic models,
International topics,
Trade integration
JEL Code(s):
F,
F1,
F13,
F14,
F4,
F42,
F6,
F60,
N,
N7,
N71
Seeking Safety
Staff Working Paper 2018-41
Toni Ahnert,
Enrico Perotti
The scale of safe assets suggests a structural demand for a safe wealth share beyond transaction and liquidity roles. We study how investors achieve a reference wealth level by combining self-insurance and contingent liquidation of investment. Intermediaries improve upon autarky, insuring investors with poor self-insurance and limiting liquidation.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Financial institutions
JEL Code(s):
G,
G2
The Welfare Cost of Inflation Revisited: The Role of Financial Innovation and Household Heterogeneity
Staff Working Paper 2018-40
Shutao Cao,
Césaire Meh,
José-Víctor Ríos-Rull,
Yaz Terajima
We document that, across households, the money consumption ratio increases with age and decreases with consumption, and that there has been a large increase in the money consumption ratio during the recent era of very low interest rates. We construct an overlapping generations (OLG) model of money holdings for transaction purposes subject to age (older households use more money), cohort (younger generations are exposed to better transaction technology), and time effects (nominal interest rates affect money holdings).
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Inflation: costs and benefits
JEL Code(s):
E,
E2,
E21,
E4,
E41
Sluggish Forecasts
Staff Working Paper 2018-39
Monica Jain
Given the influence that agents’ expectations have on key macroeconomic variables, it is surprising that very few papers have tried to extrapolate agents’ “true” expectations directly from the data. This paper presents one such approach, starting with the hypothesis that there is sluggishness in inflation and real GDP growth forecasts.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Econometric and statistical methods,
Inflation and prices
JEL Code(s):
E,
E3,
E31,
E37
Time-Consistent Management of a Liquidity Trap with Government Debt
Staff Working Paper 2018-38
Dmitry Matveev
This paper studies optimal discretionary monetary and fiscal policy when the lower bound on nominal interest rates is occasionally binding in a model with nominal rigidities and long-term government debt. At the lower bound it is optimal for the government to temporarily reduce debt.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Fiscal policy,
Monetary policy
JEL Code(s):
E,
E5,
E52,
E6,
E62,
E63