Exploring Differences in Household Debt Across Euro Area Countries and the United States Staff Working Paper 2015-16 Dimitris Christelis, Michael Ehrmann, Dimitris Georgarakos We use internationally comparable household-level data for ten euro area economies and the United States to investigate cross-country differences in debt holdings and the potential of debt overhang. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Econometric and statistical methods, International topics JEL Code(s): D, D1, D12, E, E2, E21, G, G1, G11
May 14, 2015 Inflation Dynamics in the Post-Crisis Period Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2015 Christian Friedrich, Marc-André Gosselin Inflation rates in advanced economies experienced two consecutive puzzles during the period following the global financial crisis—unexpectedly high inflation from the end of 2009 to 2011 and unexpectedly low inflation from 2012 to the middle of 2014. We investigate these developments in two ways. First, we show that accounting for inflation expectations by households explains a significant share of the inflation puzzles at the international level. Second, we find that, for Canada, elevated competition in the retail sector is also important for understanding inflation dynamics in the post-crisis period. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Inflation and prices, International topics, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E5, F, F4, F41
May 14, 2015 The Slowdown in Global Trade Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2015 Michael Francis, Louis Morel Global trade growth has been weak during the period following the 2007–09 financial crisis. This is an important development for Canada, given the Canadian economy's high degree of openness to trade. This article investigates some of the factors behind the slowdown in global trade and finds that the weakness of global demand and its changing composition, increased protectionism and diminishing incentives to expand trade have all played a role. Some of these factors are likely to have only a temporary effect on trade growth, but others could be more long-lasting. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): International topics, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): F, F1, F4, F6
Sluggish Exports in Advanced Economies: How Much Is Due to Demand? Staff Discussion Paper 2015-3 Louis Morel Exports in advanced economies have been relatively sluggish since 2011, growing at a much slower pace than observed before the global financial crisis. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): International topics, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): F, F1, F4
What Drives Bank-Intermediated Trade Finance? Evidence from Cross-Country Analysis Staff Working Paper 2015-8 Jose Maria Serena, Garima Vasishtha Empirical work on the underlying causes of the recent dislocations in bank-intermediated trade finance has been limited by the poor availability of hard data. This paper analyzes the key determinants of bank-intermediated trade finance using a novel data set covering ten banking jurisdictions. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, International financial markets, International topics JEL Code(s): F, F1, F14, F19
Motivations for Capital Controls and Their Effectiveness Staff Working Paper 2015-5 Radhika Pandey, Gurnain Pasricha, Ila Patnaik, Ajay Shah We assess the motivations for changing capital controls and their effectiveness in India, a country with extensive and long-standing controls. We focus on the controls on foreign borrowing that can, in principle, be motivated by macroprudential concerns. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rate regimes, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, International topics JEL Code(s): F, F3, F32, G, G1, G15, G18
Does Financial Integration Increase Welfare? Evidence from International Household-Level Data Staff Working Paper 2015-4 Christian Friedrich Despite a vast empirical literature that assesses the impact of financial integration on the economy, evidence of substantial welfare gains from consumption risk sharing remains elusive. While maintaining the usual cross-country perspective of the literature, this paper explicitly accounts for household heterogeneity and thus relaxes three restrictive assumptions that have featured prominently in the past. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): International financial markets, International topics, Labour markets, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, F, F3, I, I3, I31
International Spillovers of Large-Scale Asset Purchases Staff Working Paper 2015-2 Sami Alpanda, Serdar Kabaca This paper evaluates the international spillover effects of large-scale asset purchases (LSAPs) using a two-country dynamic stochastic general-equilibrium model with nominal and real rigidities, and portfolio balance effects. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, International topics, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, F, F4, F41
January 13, 2015 Drilling Down - Understanding Oil Prices and Their Economic Impact Remarks Timothy Lane Madison International Trade Association (MITA) Madison, Wisconsin Deputy Governor Timothy Lane discusses the causes of the recent drop in oil prices and its effects on the global and Canadian economies. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Inflation and prices, International topics, Monetary policy, Recent economic and financial developments, Trade integration
Why Do Canadian Firms Invest and Operate Abroad? Implications for Canadian Exports Staff Discussion Paper 2014-7 Martin Coiteux, Patrick Rizzetto, Lena Suchanek, Jane Voll Canadian foreign direct investment and sales of Canadian multinational firms’ operations abroad, particularly in the manufacturing industry and in the United States, have accelerated sharply over the past decade. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): International topics, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): F, F1, F10, F2, F21, F23, F4, F41