Losing Contact: The Impact of Contactless Payments on Cash Usage Staff Working Paper 2020-56 Marie-Hélène Felt Contactless payment cards are a competitive alternative to cash. Using Canadian panel data from 2010 to 2017, this study investigates whether contactless credit cards are an important contributor to the decline in the transactional use of cash. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech, Econometric and statistical methods, Financial services JEL Code(s): C, C3, C33, D, D1, D12, E, E4, E41
Implementation and Effectiveness of Extended Monetary Policy Tools: Lessons from the Literature Staff Discussion Paper 2020-16 Grahame Johnson, Sharon Kozicki, Romanos Priftis, Lena Suchanek, Jonathan Witmer, Jing Yang This paper summarizes the literature on the performance of various extended monetary policy tools when conventional policy rates are constrained by the effective lower bound. We highlight issues that may arise when these tools are used by central banks of small open economies. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Monetary policy, Monetary policy implementation, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58, E6, E63
A Reference Guide for the Business Outlook Survey Staff Discussion Paper 2020-15 David Amirault, Naveen Rai, Laurent Martin The Business Outlook Survey (BOS) has become an important part of monetary policy deliberations at the Bank of Canada and is also well known in Canadian policy and financial circles. This paper compiles more than 20 years of experience conducting the BOS and serves as a comprehensive reference manual. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Firm dynamics, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): C, C8, C83, D, D2, D22, E, E3, E32
December 18, 2020 Operational details for upcoming secondary market purchases of Government of Canada securities (January 4-15) As previously announced, the Bank of Canada (the Bank) launched on April 1, 2020 a program to purchase Government of Canada securities in the secondary market – the Government Bond Purchase Program (GBPP). The GBPP operations for the two-week period beginning January 4, 2021 are announced below. Content Type(s): Press, Market notices Source(s): Government of Canada Bond Purchase Program
Strategic Uncertainty in Financial Markets: Evidence from a Consensus Pricing Service Staff Working Paper 2020-55 Lerby Ergun, Andreas Uthemann We look at the informational content of consensus pricing in opaque over-the-counter markets. We show that the availability of price data informs participants mainly about other participants’ valuations, rather than about the value of a financial security. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): C, C5, C58, D, D5, D53, D8, D83, G, G1, G12, G14
December 18, 2020 Return to Standard Terms for Government of Canada Bond Auctions The Bank of Canada today announced a plan for a phased return to standard terms for auctions of Government of Canada nominal bonds and real return bonds by June 2021. Content Type(s): Press, Market notices
Labor Market Policies During an Epidemic Staff Working Paper 2020-54 Serdar Birinci, Fatih Karahan, Yusuf Mercan, Kurt See We study the labour market and welfare effects of expanding unemployment insurance benefits and introducing payroll subsidies during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that both policies are complementary and are beneficial to different types of workers. Payroll subsidies preserve the employment of workers in highly productive jobs, while unemployment insurance replaces lost income for workers who experience inevitable job loss. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Fiscal policy, Labour markets JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E6, E62, J, J6, J64