The Canadian Dollar and Commodity Prices: Has the Relationship Changed over Time? Staff Discussion Paper 2008-15 Philipp Maier, Brian DePratto The authors examine the impact of the recent run-up in energy and non-energy commodity prices on the Canadian dollar. Using the Bank of Canada's exchange rate equation, they find that the differences between the actual value of the Canadian exchange rate and the simulated values observed in 2007 are not historically large. Still, given that […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Exchange rates JEL Code(s): F, F3, F31
The Welfare Effects of Protection: A General Equilibrium Analysis of Canada’s National Policy Staff Working Paper 2017-18 Patrick Alexander, Ian Keay In this paper, we study the impact of Canada’s adoption of protectionist trade policy in 1879 on Canadian welfare. Under the National Policy the Canadian average weighted tariff increased from 14% to 21%. The conventional view is that this was a distortionary policy that negatively affected Canadian welfare. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Economic models, International topics, Trade integration JEL Code(s): F, F1, F13, F14, F4, F42, F6, F60, N, N7, N71
Market Concentration and Uniform Pricing: Evidence from Bank Mergers Staff Working Paper 2021-9 João Granja, Nuno Paixão We show that US banks price deposits almost uniformly across their branches and that this pricing practice is more important than increases in local market concentration in explaining the deposit rate dynamics following bank mergers. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial system regulation and policies, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): D, D4, G, G2, G20, G21, G28, G3, G34, L, L1, L11
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 Research Topic(s): Fiscal policy, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E6, E62, E63
A Search Model of Venture Capital, Entrepreneurship, and Unemployment Staff Working Paper 2005-24 Robin Boadway, Oana Secrieru, Marianne Vigneault The authors develop a search model of venture capital in which the number of successful matches of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists (VCs) at any moment in time is a function of the number of entrepreneurs searching for funds, the number of VCs searching for entrepreneurs, and the number of vacancies posted by each VC. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial markets, Fiscal policy, Labour markets JEL Code(s): D, D8, D82, G, G1, G18, G2, G24, H, H2, H21, J, J6, J64
Anchored Inflation Expectations: What Recent Data Reveal Staff Working Paper 2025-5 Olena Kostyshyna, Isabelle Salle, Hung Truong We analyze micro-level data from the Canadian Survey of Consumer Expectations through the lens of a heterogeneous-expectations model to study how inflation expectations form over the business cycle. We provide new insights into how households form expectations, documenting that forecasting behaviours, attention and noise in beliefs vary across socio-demographic groups and correlate with views about monetary policy. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): D, D8, D84, E, E3, E31, E7, E70
Making It Real: Bringing Research Models into Central Bank Projections Staff Discussion Paper 2023-29 Marc-André Gosselin, Sharon Kozicki Macroeconomic projections and risk analyses play an important role in guiding monetary policy decisions. Models are integral to this process. This paper discusses how the Bank of Canada brings research models and lessons learned from those models into the central bank projection environment. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Economic models, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): C, C3, C32, C5, C51, E, E3, E37, E4, E47, E5, E52
April 8, 2009 Price-Level Targeting and Stabilization Policy: A Review Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2009 Steve Ambler This article reviews arguments in the literature for and against price-level targeting, focusing on its costs and benefits compared with inflation targeting. Benefits of price-level targeting include the effect on forward-looking inflation expectations; the ability to substitute for commitment by a central bank to its future policies; lessening forecast errors; better economic performance in response to real shocks because of lower wage indexation; and a reduction in the problem of the zero lower bound on nominal interest rates. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Research Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Inflation: costs and benefits, Monetary policy framework
Credit Constraints and Consumer Spending Staff Working Paper 2009-25 Kimberly Beaton This paper examines the relationship between aggregate consumer spending and credit availability in the United States. The author finds that consumer spending falls (rises) in response to a reduction (increase) in credit availability. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Domestic demand and components, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E27, E4, E44, E5, E51, E58
The Optimum Quantity of Central Bank Reserves Staff Working Paper 2025-15 Jonathan Witmer This paper analyzes the optimal quantity of central bank reserves in an economy where reserves and other financial assets provide liquidity benefits. Using a static model, I derive a constrained Friedman rule that characterizes the socially optimal level of reserves, demonstrating that this quantity is neither necessarily large nor small but depends on the marginal benefits of reserves relative to alternative safe assets. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial system regulation and policies, Monetary policy implementation JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42, E5, E58, G, G2, G21, G28