June 18, 2008 House Prices and Consumer Spending Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2008 Kimberly Beaton, Sylvie Morin, Ilan Kolet Flood, Morin, and Kolet examine the role of house prices in household consumption decisions. Considering a group of advanced economies, the authors find that the strength of the link between house prices and consumer spending depends on the institutional features of national mortgage markets. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Domestic demand and components, International topics, Recent economic and financial developments
June 17, 2008 A Tool for Assessing Financial Vulnerabilities in the Household Sector Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2008 Shubhasis Dey, Ramdane Djoudad, Yaz Terajima In this article, the authors build on the framework used in the Bank of Canada's Financial System Review to assess the evolution of household indebtedness and financial vulnerabilities in response to changing economic conditions. To achieve this, they first compare two microdata sets generated by Ipsos Reid's Canadian Financial Monitor and Statistics Canada's Survey of Financial Security. They find that the surveys are broadly comparable, despite methodological differences. This enables them to use the combined information content for the identification of the threshold value of the debt-service ratio (DSR). The article then presents an innovative framework that uses household-level microdata to simulate changes in the distribution of the DSR under various stress scenarios. The authors show how this framework can be used by analyzing the effects of two different scenarios on the distribution of the debt-service ratio and the impact on vulnerable households. This tool will enable researchers to refine their analyses of current risks to the financial health of Canadian households. The article concludes with comments on future directions for refining the Bank's analyses of household sector risk. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Economic models, Financial stability
June 16, 2008 A Money and Credit Real-Time Database for Canada Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2008 Roobina Keshishbanoosy, Pierre St-Amant, Devin Ball, Ivan Medovikov Model-based forecasts of important economic variables are part of the range of information considered for monetary policy decision making. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Monetary aggregates, Monetary policy and uncertainty
March 18, 2008 Canada's Experience with a Flexible Exchange Rate in the 1950s: Valuable Lessons Learned Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2008 Lawrence L. Schembri Schembri studies Canada's post-World War II experience in introducing a floating exchange rate, including its effects on the Canadian economy and its influence on the development of macroeconomic theory. In particular, Canada's flexible exchange rate and high degree of capital mobility with the United States provided an unprecedented experiment for macroeconomic policy. The successes and difficulties encountered by Canadian authorities in managing monetary and fiscal policy under this regime drew the interest of researchers at the International Monetary Fund and elsewhere and had a significant impact on the development of the Mundell-Fleming model, the path-breaking innovation in modern open-economy macroeconomics. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Central bank research, Exchange rate regimes, Monetary policy framework
March 17, 2008 Price Discovery Across Geographic Locations in the Foreign Exchange Market Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2008 Chris D'Souza The ongoing process of price discovery in foreign exchange markets provides valuable information to certain market participants. Recent empirical findings suggest that aggregate measures of order flow convey information about the fundamental value of the exchange rate. Using a market microstructure approach, D'Souza reports on a two-year study of completed transactions within the Canadian and Australian exchange rate markets to examine the relationship between exchange rate returns and trades initiated in different locations. Based on the information content of the trades, he finds that geographic location and hours of operation are two of the factors driving informed interdealer trading. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Exchange rates, Financial markets, Market structure and pricing
March 16, 2008 Developing a Framework to Assess Financial Stability: Conference Highlights and Lessons Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2008 Olivier de Bandt, Céline Gauthier, Pierre St-Amant Central banks are still defining their approach to financial stability and are at an early stage in the development of useful models. The Bank of Canada's 2007 economic conference was organized to stimulate progress in the development of financial-stability frameworks. Among the highlights reported here are the discussions centred around three proposed frameworks: a contingent-claims-analysis framework, a semi-structural framework, and structural financial-stability models. Participants also reported on their experiences with stress-testing under the International Monetary Fund's Financial Sector Assessment Program and discussed the implications for financial stability of linkages among payment, clearing, and settlement systems. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, Payment clearing and settlement systems
December 15, 2007 Introduction: Recent Research on Inflation Targeting Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2007-2008 John Murray The inflation targeting framework that Canada introduced in 1991 has played a significant role in the exceptional economic performance that the country has experienced in recent years. Understanding the factors that have contributed to the success of the current inflation-targeting framework, and investigating the various ways in which it might be improved in the future, are an important part of the Bank of Canada's medium-term research program. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles
December 14, 2007 The Costs of Inflation in New Keynesian Models Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2007-2008 Steve Ambler Ambler describes three new channels through which inflation affects economic welfare in New Keynesian models. These channels were absent from traditional analyses and may have caused researchers to underestimate the costs associated with variable inflation, even at relatively low levels of inflation. The article concludes with a preliminary assessment of the quantitative importance of the new channels and their significance for monetary policy. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Inflation: costs and benefits, Monetary policy framework
December 13, 2007 Central Bank Performance under Inflation Targeting Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2007-2008 Marc-André Gosselin Gosselin examines and reports on the various factors that contribute to successful inflation targeting. Using a panel of 21 inflation-targeting countries over the period 1990Q1-2007Q2, Gosselin finds that the ability of central banks to hit their targets varies considerably. Some of these differences can be explained by exchange rate fluctuations, fiscal deficits, and differences in financial development. Others are explained by differences in the targeting framework itself and the manner in which it is implemented. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Central bank research, Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework
December 11, 2007 The Zero Bound on Nominal Interest Rates: Implications for Monetary Policy Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2007-2008 Claude Lavoie, Stephen Murchison One of the most important factors that must be considered if countries are thinking about lowering the target level of inflation much below 2 per cent is the zero interest bound. Targeting inflation rates that are too low, the authors note, may restrict the ability of monetary policy to respond to economic shocks by limiting the amount by which interest rates can be eased. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Inflation: costs and benefits, Interest rates, Monetary policy implementation