Using Payments Data to Nowcast Macroeconomic Variables During the Onset of COVID-19 Staff Working Paper 2021-2 James Chapman, Ajit Desai We use retail payment data in conjunction with machine learning techniques to predict the effects of COVID-19 on the Canadian economy in near-real time. Our model yields a significant increase in macroeconomic prediction accuracy over a linear benchmark model. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): C, C5, C53, C55, E, E3, E37, E4, E42, E5, E52
Central Bank Digital Currencies: A Framework for Assessing Why and How Staff Discussion Paper 2016-22 Ben Fung, Hanna Halaburda Digital currencies have attracted strong interest in recent years and have the potential to become widely adopted for use in making payments. Public authorities and central banks around the world are closely monitoring developments in digital currencies and studying their implications for the economy, the financial system and central banks. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Financial services, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42
Indebtedness and the Household Financial Health: An Examination of the Canadian Debt Service Ratio Distribution Staff Working Paper 2008-46 Umar Faruqui The household debt-to-disposable income ratio in Canada increased from 110 per cent in 1999 to 127 per cent in 2007. This increase has raised questions about the ability of households to service their increased debt if faced with a negative economic or socio-economic shock. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial stability, Monetary and financial indicators JEL Code(s): D, D1, D11, D14, D3, D39
Cash, COVID-19 and the Prospects for a Canadian Digital Dollar Staff Discussion Paper 2022-17 Walter Engert, Kim Huynh We provide an analysis of cash trends in Canada before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also consider the potential two scenarios for issuance of a central bank digital currency in Canada: the emergence of a cashless society or the widespread use of an alternative digital currency in Canada. Finally, we discuss the Canadian experience in maintaining cash as an efficient and accessible method of payment and store of value. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Bank notes, Central bank research, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Digital currencies and fintech, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, C9, E, E4, O, O5, O54
November 14, 1998 Lower inflation: Benefits and costs Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 1998 Donald Coletti, Brian O'Reilly The federal government and the Bank of Canada have been committed for some time to achieving and maintaining price stability as a way to foster a rising standard of living for all Canadians. To support this objective, the inflation-control target range of 1 to 3 per cent was recently extended through to the end of 2001. By then, the government and the Bank plan to announce a long-run target for monetary policy. In this article, the authors provide an overview of the most recent empirical evidence on the benefits of lower inflation. They draw on an extensive earlier survey and on work presented at two recent conferences on price stability hosted by the Bank of Canada. They find that, when inflation and tax interactions are taken into account, there are large benefits to lowering inflation. When these benefits are compared with the transitional costs associated with lowering inflation, significant positive benefits remain. However, the authors note that the extension of the inflation-control targets to the end of 2001 allows further research to ensure an operational definition of price stability that will help Canadians achieve a high standard of living. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Research Topic(s): Inflation: costs and benefits
August 23, 2011 How People Think and How It Matters Remarks Jean Boivin Canadian Association for Business Economics Kingston, Ontario In his speech entitled “How People Think and How it Matters,” delivered to the Canadian Association for Business Economics, Deputy Governor Jean Boivin reviews various ways people form expectations and how these affect monetary policy. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks
November 18, 2014 Inflation Targeting in the Post-Crisis Era Remarks Agathe Côté Calgary CFA Society Calgary, Alberta Deputy Governor Agathe Côté discusses the inflation-targeting framework and issues the Bank is researching in the run-up to the renewal of the framework in 2016. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks
September 15, 2008 Productivity in Canada: Does Firm Size Matter? Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2008 Danny Leung, Césaire Meh, Yaz Terajima The research findings highlighted in this article suggest that firm-size differences play a significant role in explaining the productivity gap between Canada and the United States. The authors review factors that lead to a positive relationship between productivity and size and then look at Canadian evidence of this relationship at the firm level. They quantify the extent to which the change in Canadian productivity as well as the Canada-U.S. productivity differences can be accounted for by the change in the importance of large firms and identify several factors that play a role in determining average firm size and aggregate productivity. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Research Topic(s): Productivity
Exchange Rate Volatility and Trade: A Survey Staff Working Paper 1994-5 Agathe Côté This paper provides an extensive survey of the literature on exchange rate volatility and trade, examining both the theory that underlies the work in this area and the results of empirical studies published since 1988. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Exchange rates
A Policy Model to Analyze Macroprudential Regulations and Monetary Policy Staff Working Paper 2014-6 Sami Alpanda, Gino Cateau, Césaire Meh We construct a small-open-economy, New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general-equilibrium model with real-financial linkages to analyze the effects of financial shocks and macroprudential policies on the Canadian economy. Our model has four key features. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Economic models, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): E, E1, E17, E3, E32, E4, E44, F, F4, F41