Exact Tests of Equal Forecast Accuracy with an Application to the Term Structure of Interest Rates Staff Working Paper 2004-2 Richard Luger The author proposes a class of exact tests of the null hypothesis of exchangeable forecast errors and, hence, of the hypothesis of no difference in the unconditional accuracy of two competing forecasts. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, C2, C22, C5, C52, C53
The Canadian Phillips Curve and Regime Shifting Staff Working Paper 2003-32 Frédérick Demers Phillips curves are generally estimated under the assumption of linearity and parameter constancy. Linear models of inflation, however, have recently been criticized for their poor forecasting performance. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): C, C5, C52, E, E3, E31
Forecasting and Analyzing World Commodity Prices Staff Working Paper 2003-24 René Lalonde, Zhenhua Zhu, Frédérick Demers The authors develop simple econometric models to analyze and forecast two components of the Bank of Canada commodity price index: the Bank of Canada non-energy (BCNE) commodity prices and the West Texas Intermediate crude oil price. They present different methodologies to identify transitory and permanent components of movements in these prices. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C5
A Stochastic Simulation Framework for the Government of Canada's Debt Strategy Staff Working Paper 2003-10 David Bolder Debt strategy is defined as the manner in which a government finances an excess of government expenditures over revenues and any maturing debt issued in previous periods. The author gives a thorough qualitative description of the complexities of debt strategy analysis and then demonstrates that it is, in fact, a problem in stochastic optimal control. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Debt management, Econometric and statistical methods, Economic models JEL Code(s): C, C0, C1, C15, C5, C52, H, H6, H63
A Comparison of Twelve Macroeconomic Models of the Canadian Economy Technical Report No. 94 Denise Côté, John Kuszczak, Jean-Paul Lam, Ying Liu, Pierre St-Amant In this report, the authors examine and compare twelve private and public sector models of the Canadian economy with respect to their paradigm, structure, and dynamic properties. These open-economy models can be grouped into two economic paradigms. Content Type(s): Staff research, Technical reports Research Topic(s): Economic models, Monetary policy and uncertainty JEL Code(s): C, C5, E, E5, E52, E58
Testing the Stability of the Canadian Phillips Curve Using Exact Methods Staff Working Paper 2003-7 Lynda Khalaf, Maral Kichian Postulating two different specifications for the Canadian Phillips curve (a purely backwardlooking model, and a partly backward-, partly forward-looking model), the authors test for structural breaks in the parameters of the equation. In each case, they account for the possibilities that: (i) breaks can be discrete, or continuous, and (ii) available data samples may be too small to justify using asymptotically valid structural-change tests. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C1, C15, C5, C52, E, E3, E31, E37
Inflation Changes, Yield Spreads, and Threshold Effects Staff Working Paper 2002-40 Greg Tkacz Using interest rate yield spreads to explain changes in inflation, we investigate whether such relationships can be modelled using two-regime threshold models. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Interest rates JEL Code(s): C, C5, C51, E, E3, E31
Oil-Price Shocks and Retail Energy Prices in Canada Staff Working Paper 2002-38 Marwan Chacra The effects of global energy-price shocks on retail energy prices in Canada are examined. More specifically, the author looks at the response of the consumer price indexes for gasoline, heating oil, natural gas, and electricity in Canada to movements in world crude oil prices. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Inflation and prices, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): C, C2, C22, C5, C51, C53, Q, Q4, Q40
Evaluating the Quarterly Projection Model: A Preliminary Investigation Staff Working Paper 2002-20 Robert Amano, Kim McPhail, Hope Pioro, Andrew Rennison This paper summarizes the results of recent research evaluating the Bank of Canada's Quarterly Projection Model (QPM). Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Economic models JEL Code(s): C, C5, C52, E, E1, E17, E3, E30, E37
Towards a More Complete Debt Strategy Simulation Framework Staff Working Paper 2002-13 David Bolder An effective technique governments use to evaluate the desirability of different financing strategies involves stochastic simulation. This approach requires the postulation of the future dynamics of key macroeconomic variables and the use of those variables in the construction of a debt charge distribution for each individual financing strategy. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Debt management, Econometric and statistical methods, Interest rates JEL Code(s): C, C0, C5, G, G0