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2107 Results

Did U.S. Consumers Respond to the 2014–2015 Oil Price Shock? Evidence from the Consumer Expenditure Survey

Staff working paper 2018-13 Patrick Alexander, Louis Poirier
The impact of oil price shocks on the U.S. economy is a topic of considerable debate. In this paper, we examine the response of U.S. consumers to the 2014–2015 negative oil price shock using representative survey data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey.

The Value of Mortgage Choice: Payment Structure and Contract Length

Staff working paper 2026-2 Michael Boutros, Nuno Clara, Katya Kartashova
We study household mortgage choice in a model with three mortgage contracts that differ in their payment structures: fixed-rate fixed-payment, variable-rate variable-payment, and a hybrid variable-rate fixed-payment mortgage where interest rate changes affect principal repayment rather than payment size. We calibrate the model to match mortgage choice patterns in Canada, where all these options are offered with short terms. We demonstrate that restricting contract choice or mandating long terms, as in the U.S. system, can lead to substantial welfare losses by limiting risk management strategies and increasing mortgage pricing ex-ante.

The Role of International Financial Integration in Monetary Policy Transmission

Staff working paper 2024-3 Jing Cynthia Wu, Yinxi Xie, Ji Zhang
We propose an open-economy New Keynesian model with financial integration that allows financial intermediaries to hold foreign long-term bonds. We study the implications of financial integration on monetary policy transmission. Among various aspects of financial integration, the bond duration plays a major role. These results hold for conventional and unconventional monetary policies.

Volatility Risk and Economic Welfare

Staff working paper 2017-20 Shaofeng Xu
This paper examines the effects of time-varying volatility on welfare. I construct a tractable endogenous growth model with recursive preferences, stochastic volatility, and capital adjustment costs.

The Macroeconomic Implications of Coholding

Staff working paper 2024-16 Michael Boutros, Andrej Mijakovic
Coholder households simultaneously carry high-cost credit card debt and low-yield cash. We study the implications of this behavior for fiscal and monetary policy, finding that coholder households have smaller consumption responses in the short run but larger responses in the long run.
May 20, 2002

Trends in Productivity Growth in Canada

This article describes the major trends in the growth of labour productivity in Canada since the early 1960s and summarizes our current knowledge about the causes of the historical patterns. Particular attention is given to the period since the mid-1990s during which productivity growth has been significantly higher in the United States than in Canada. The author reviews the empirical evidence on the contribution of information and communication technology to the recent difference between Canadian and U.S. rates of productivity growth. Other determinants of a country's productivity performance, such as human capital formation and openness to international trade, are also examined. The article concludes with an assessment of the prospects for an increase in the trend rate of productivity growth in Canada over the coming years.
April 15, 2007

Renewing the International Monetary Fund: A Review of the Issues

Given the rapid and ongoing integration of the global economy, the International Monetary Fund needs to renew its role, governance structure, and functions if it is to maintain its relevance as the institution charged with promoting global financial stability. Lecavalier and Santor examine the areas of possible reform, including quota, voice, and representation; internal governance; surveillance; lending instruments; finances; and the Fund's role in low-income countries. They also review current Bank of Canada research that supports these reform efforts, including an integrated framework for IMF surveillance recently developed at the Bank.
April 7, 2009

Price-Level Uncertainty, Price-Level Targeting, and Nominal Debt Contracts

Many central banks around the world have embraced inflation targeting as a monetary policy framework. Interest is growing, however, in price-level targeting as an alternative. The choice of frameworks has important consequences for financial contracts, most of which are not fully indexed to the price level. Changes in the price level therefore lead to changes in the real value of contracts.
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