Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity in Canada: Evidence Against a “Greasing Effect” Staff Working Paper 2017-31 Joel Wagner The existence of downward nominal wage rigidity (DNWR) has often been used to justify a positive inflation target. It is traditionally assumed that positive inflation could “grease the wheels” of the labour market by putting downward pressure on real wages, easing labour market adjustments during a recession. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Inflation targets, Labour markets JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E5, E52
Eggs in One Basket: Security and Convenience of Digital Currencies Staff Working Paper 2021-6 Charles M. Kahn, Francisco Rivadeneyra, Tsz-Nga Wong Digital currencies store balances in anonymous electronic addresses. This paper analyzes the trade-offs between the safety and convenience of aggregating balances in addresses, electronic wallets and banks. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech, Financial services, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E51, E58
What Drives Interbank Loans? Evidence from Canada Staff Working Paper 2018-5 Narayan Bulusu, Pierre Guérin We identify the drivers of unsecured and collateralized loan volumes, rates and haircuts in Canada using the Bayesian model averaging approach to deal with model uncertainty. Our results suggest that the key friction driving behaviour in this market is the collateral reallocation cost faced by borrowers. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial markets, Wholesale funding JEL Code(s): C, C5, C55, E, E4, E43, G, G2, G23
Harnessing the benefit of state-contingent forward guidance Staff Analytical Note 2022-13 Vivian Chu, Yang Zhang A low level of the neutral rate of interest increases the likelihood that a central bank’s policy rate will reach its effective lower bound (ELB) in future economic downturns. In a low neutral rate environment, using an extended monetary policy toolkit including forward guidance helps address the ELB challenge. Using the Bank’s Terms-of-Trade Economic Model, we assess the benefits and limitations of a state-contingent forward guidance implemented within a flexible inflation targeting framework. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Economic models, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E2, E27, E3, E37, E4, E5, E52, E58
Debt Overhang and Deleveraging in the US Household Sector: Gauging the Impact on Consumption Staff Working Paper 2015-47 Bruno Albuquerque, Georgi Krustev Using a novel dataset for the US states, this paper examines whether household debt and the protracted debt deleveraging help explain the dismal performance of US consumption since 2007, in the aftermath of the housing bubble. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Econometric and statistical methods, International topics JEL Code(s): C, C1, C13, C2, C23, C5, C52, D, D1, D12, H, H3, H31
Expenditure-Switching Effect and the Choice of Exchange Rate Regime Staff Working Paper 2007-54 Wei Dong The author investigates the quantitative importance of the expenditure-switching effect by developing and estimating a structural sticky-price model nesting both producer currency pricing (PCP) and local currency pricing (LCP) settings. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Exchange rate regimes, International topics JEL Code(s): F, F3, F4
Bank Screening Heterogeneity Staff Working Paper 2016-56 Thibaut Duprey Production efficiency and financial stability do not necessarily go hand in hand. With heterogeneity in banks’ abilities to screen borrowers, the market for loans becomes segmented and a self-competition mechanism arises. When heterogeneity increases, the intensive and extensive margins have opposite effects. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): G, G1, G14, G2, G21, L, L1, L13
Privacy in CBDC technology Staff Analytical Note 2020-9 Sriram Darbha, Rakesh Arora Privacy is a key aspect of a potential central bank digital currency system. We outline different technical choices to enact various privacy models while complying with the appropriate regulations. We develop a framework to evaluate privacy models and list key risks and trade-offs in privacy design. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E51, O, O3
Heterogeneity in the Dynamic Effects of Uncertainty on Investment Staff Working Paper 2015-34 Sungje Byun, Soojin Jo How does aggregate profit uncertainty influence investment activity at the firm level? We propose a parsimonious adaptation of a factor-autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model to exploit information in a subindustry sales panel for an efficient and tractable estimation of aggregate volatility. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Domestic demand and components, Econometric and statistical methods, International topics JEL Code(s): C, C2, C22, C23, D, D8, D80, E, E2, E22
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 Research Topic(s): Financial markets, International topics JEL Code(s): G, G3, G32