How Do Import Tariffs Affect Aggregate Prices? Theory and Evidence from Canada Staff working paper 2026-36 Christian Bustamante, Xing Guo, Lu Han, Soyoung Lee, Gaelan MacKenzie, Mariel Yacolca Maguiña, Jacob Short Using Canadian firm-level market shares and an oligopolistic model, the paper shows that a 25% counter-tariff on U.S. imports raises Canada's aggregate price index by 0.66%, far below direct cost pass-through predictions due to consumer substitution and markup adjustments. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, F, F1, F13, F14, L, L1, L11, L16 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Structural challenges, International trade, finance and competitiveness
On the Tail Risk Premium in the Oil Market Staff working paper 2017-46 Reinhard Ellwanger This paper shows that changes in market participants’ fear of rare events implied by crude oil options contribute to oil price volatility and oil return predictability. Using 25 years of historical data, we document economically large tail risk premia that vary substantially over time and significantly forecast crude oil futures and spot returns. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C5, C53, C58, D, D8, D84, E, E4, E44, G, G1, G12, G13, Q, Q4, Q43 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Structural challenges, International trade, finance and competitiveness
Loan Insurance, Market Liquidity, and Lending Standards Staff working paper 2019-47 Toni Ahnert, Martin Kuncl We examine loan insurance—credit risk transfer upon origination—in a model in which lenders can screen, learn loan quality over time, and can sell loans. Some lenders with low screening ability insure, benefiting from higher market liquidity of insured loans while forgoing the option to exploit future information about loan quality. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): G, G0, G01, G2, G21, G28 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Financial system, Financial institutions and intermediation, Financial stability and systemic risk, Household and business credit
Endogenous Time Variation in Vector Autoregressions Staff working paper 2020-16 Danilo Leiva-Leon, Luis Uzeda We introduce a new class of time-varying parameter vector autoregressions (TVP-VARs) where the identified structural innovations are allowed to influence — contemporaneously and with a lag — the dynamics of the intercept and autoregressive coefficients in these models. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C1, C11, C3, C32, E, E3, E31, E5, E52 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Economic models, Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Monetary policy framework and transmission
Persistent Debt and Business Cycles in an Economy with Production Heterogeneity Staff working paper 2023-17 Aubhik Khan, Soyoung Lee We examine the role of debt in amplifying and propagating recessions. Firms’ debt adjustment makes recessions deeper but makes expansions gradual. In particular, when the aggregate business leverage is ten percentage points above average, the half-life of the recovery doubles. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E23, E3, E30, E32 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Household and business credit, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting
What Fed Funds Futures Tell Us About Monetary Policy Uncertainty Staff working paper 2016-61 Jean-Sébastien Fontaine The uncertainty around future changes to the Federal Reserve target rate varies over time. In our results, the main driver of uncertainty is a “path” factor signaling information about future policy actions, which is filtered from federal funds futures data. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, E44, E47, G, G1, G12, G13 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission
Transaction Costs, the Value of Convenience, and the Cross-Section of Safe Asset Returns Staff working paper 2025-34 Ragnar Juelsrud, Plamen Nenov, Fabienne Schneider, Olav Syrstad We study the cross-section of equilibrium returns on safe assets using a tractable asset pricing model with a micro-founded demand for liquidity and multiple safe assets with heterogeneous transaction costs. We test the main predictions of our theory using a novel measure of relative (in)convenience yields in the US Treasury market. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, G, G1, G12 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission
Seeing the Economy through Colored Glasses: Partisanship in Macro and (not in) Micro Expectations Staff working paper 2026-24 Adrian Monninger, Kyung Woong Koh, Tao Wang Households report distinctive views of the macroeconomy along partisan lines, while their expectations about personal finances do not follow the same pattern. Economic inequality remains the major contributor to polarized views of the macroeconomy. Partisan politics are simply a magnifier. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E3, E30, E7, E71 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Real economy and forecasting
Capital Flows to Developing Countries: Is There an Allocation Puzzle? Staff working paper 2016-53 Josef Schroth Foreign direct investment inflows are positively related to growth across developing countries—but so are savings in excess of investment. I develop an explanation for this well-established puzzle by focusing on the limited availability of consumer credit in developing countries together with general equilibrium effects. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E1, E13, E2, E21, F, F4, F43 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Structural challenges, International trade, finance and competitiveness
Bank Runs, Portfolio Choice, and Liquidity Provision Staff working paper 2019-37 Toni Ahnert, Mahmoud Elamin After the financial crisis of 2007–09, many jurisdictions introduced new banking regulations to make banks more resilient and less likely to fail. These regulations included tighter limits for the quality and quantity of bank capital and introduced minimum standards for liquidity. But what was the impact of these changes? Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): G, G0, G01, G2, G21 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial institutions and intermediation, Financial stability and systemic risk