When Is It Less Costly for Risky Firms to Borrow? Evidence from the Bank Risk- Taking Channel of Monetary Policy Staff Working Paper 2012-10 Teodora Paligorova, João Santos In an investigation of banks’ loan pricing policies in the United States over the past two decades, this study finds supporting evidence for the bank risk-taking channel of monetary policy. We show that banks charge lower spreads when they lend to riskier borrowers relative to the spreads they charge on loans to safer borrowers in periods of low short-term rates compared to periods of high short-term rates. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): G, G2, G21
Macroprudential Rules and Monetary Policy when Financial Frictions Matter Staff Working Paper 2012-6 Jeannine Bailliu, Césaire Meh, Yahong Zhang This paper examines the interaction between monetary policy and macroprudential policy and whether policy makers should respond to financial imbalances. To address this issue, we build a dynamic general equilibrium model that features financial market frictions and financial shocks as well as standard macroeconomic shocks. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Financial markets, Financial stability, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E50, E6, E60
Bank Leverage Regulation and Macroeconomic Dynamics Staff Working Paper 2011-32 Ian Christensen, Césaire Meh, Kevin Moran This paper assesses the merits of countercyclical bank balance sheet regulation for the stabilization of financial and economic cycles and examines its interaction with monetary policy. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Financial institutions, Financial system regulation and policies, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, E5, E52, G, G2, G21
Price-Level Targeting and Inflation Expectations: Experimental Evidence Staff Working Paper 2011-18 Robert Amano, Jim Engle-Warnick, Malik Shukayev In this paper, we use an economics decision-making experiment to test a key assumption underpinning the efficacy of price-level targeting relative to inflation targeting for business cycle stabilization and mitigating the effects of the zero lower bound on nominal interest rates. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E5, E52
August 18, 2011 The BoC-GEM-Fin: Banking in the Global Economy Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2011 Carlos De Resende, René Lalonde This article describes the Bank of Canada’s version of the Global Economy Model structured to incorporate an active banking system that features an interbank market and cross-border lending. After describing the new model, the authors use it to examine the responses of selected U.S. and Canadian macroeconomic variables to a “credit crunch” in the United States and also to study the impact of changes in the regulatory limits to bank leverage in Canada. They also discuss the relative merits of a monetary policy framework based on inflation targeting and one based on price-level targeting in the presence of shocks to the U.S. and Canadian banking sectors. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Economic models, Financial institutions, Financial system regulation and policies, Monetary policy framework
May 19, 2011 Unconventional Monetary Policy: The International Experience with Central Bank Asset Purchases Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2011 Sharon Kozicki, Lena Suchanek, Eric Santor As part of their policy response to the financial crisis of 2007–09, central banks introduced numerous unprecedented monetary policy measures to provide monetary easing. This article defines and documents these measures, focusing on central bank asset purchases and their impact on central bank balance sheets. It then discusses the challenges of identifying the effects of these measures and explores possible exit strategies. The potential costs of these policies are also analyzed, as well as the broader implications for monetary policy frameworks. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Central bank research, Financial markets, International topics, Monetary policy framework
November 19, 2010 Has Exchange Rate Pass-Through Really Declined? Some Recent Insights from the Literature Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2010 Jeannine Bailliu, Wei Dong, John Murray Building on an earlier Review article, the authors critically reassess the premise that exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) has declined in light of recent studies of the issue in the context of a dynamic stochastic general-equilibrium framework. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Economic models, Exchange rates, Inflation and prices, Monetary policy framework
August 19, 2010 Monetary Policy and the Zero Bound on Nominal Interest Rates Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2010 Robert Amano, Malik Shukayev The recent financial crisis and global economic slowdown have renewed interest in monetary policy options when the policy interest rate is at or near zero. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework
August 19, 2010 Price-Level Targeting and Relative-Price Shocks Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2010 Stephen Murchison Stephen Murchison reviews the findings of recent Bank of Canada research on the relative merits of inflation targeting and price-level targeting (PLT) for a small open economy, such as Canada's, that is susceptible to large and persistent terms-of-trade shocks. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Central bank research, Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework
August 19, 2010 Should Monetary Policy Be Used to Counteract Financial Imbalances? Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2010 Jean Boivin, Césaire Meh, Timothy Lane The authors examine whether monetary policy should and could do more to lean against financial imbalances (such as those associated with asset-price bubbles or unsustainable credit expansion) as they are building up, or whether its role should be limited to cleaning up the economic consequences as the imbalances unwind. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Financial system regulation and policies, Monetary policy framework