Evaluating Real GDP Growth Forecasts in the Bank of Canada Monetary Policy Report Staff Analytical Note 2017-21 André Binette, Dmitri Tchebotarev This paper examines the quality of projections of real GDP growth taken from the Bank of Canada Monetary Policy Report (MPR) since they were first published in 1997. Over the last decade, it has become common practice among the central banking community to discuss forecast performance publicly. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Econometric and statistical methods, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): C, C5, C52, E, E3, E32, E37, E5, E52
Assessing the Predictive Ability of Sovereign Default Risk on Exchange Rate Returns Staff Working Paper 2017-19 Claudia Foroni, Francesco Ravazzolo, Barbara Sadaba Increased sovereign credit risk is often associated with sharp currency movements. Therefore, expectations of the probability of a sovereign default event can convey important information regarding future movements of exchange rates. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Exchange rates, International financial markets JEL Code(s): C, C2, C22, C5, C52, C53, F, F3, F31
Debt Overhang and Deleveraging in the US Household Sector: Gauging the Impact on Consumption Staff Working Paper 2015-47 Bruno Albuquerque, Georgi Krustev Using a novel dataset for the US states, this paper examines whether household debt and the protracted debt deleveraging help explain the dismal performance of US consumption since 2007, in the aftermath of the housing bubble. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Econometric and statistical methods, International topics JEL Code(s): C, C1, C13, C2, C23, C5, C52, D, D1, D12, H, H3, H31
August 15, 2013 The Accuracy of Short-Term Forecast Combinations Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2013 Eleonora Granziera, Corinne Luu, Pierre St-Amant This article examines whether combining forecasts of real GDP from different models can improve forecast accuracy and considers which model-combination methods provide the best performance. In line with previous literature, the authors find that combining forecasts generally improves forecast accuracy relative to various benchmarks. Unlike several previous studies, however, they find that, rather than assigning equal weights to each model, unequal weighting based on the past forecast performance of models tends to improve accuracy when forecasts across models are substantially different. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C5, C52, C53, E, E3, E37
Structural Inflation Models with Real Wage Rigidities: The Case of Canada Staff Working Paper 2009-21 Jean-Marie Dufour, Lynda Khalaf, Maral Kichian Real wage rigidities have recently been proposed as a way of building intrinsic persistence in inflation within the context of New Keynesian Phillips Curves. Using two recent illustrative structural models, we evaluate empirically the importance of real wage rigidities in the data and the extent to which such models provide useful information regarding price stickiness. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Inflation and prices, Labour markets JEL Code(s): C, C1, C13, C5, C52, E, E3, E31
Structural Multi-Equation Macroeconomic Models: Identification-Robust Estimation and Fit Staff Working Paper 2009-19 Jean-Marie Dufour, Lynda Khalaf, Maral Kichian Weak identification is likely to be prevalent in multi-equation macroeconomic models such as in dynamic stochastic general equilibrium setups. Identification difficulties cause the breakdown of standard asymptotic procedures, making inference unreliable. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): C, C5, C52, C53, E, E3, E37
Assessing Indexation-Based Calvo Inflation Models Staff Working Paper 2009-7 Jean-Marie Dufour, Lynda Khalaf, Maral Kichian Using identification-robust methods, the authors estimate and evaluate for Canada and the United States various classes of inflation equations based on generalized structural Calvo-type models. The models allow for different forms of frictions and vary in their assumptions regarding the type of price indexation adopted by firms. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): C, C1, C13, C5, C52, E, E3, E31
On Portfolio Separation Theorems with Heterogeneous Beliefs and Attitudes towards Risk Staff Working Paper 2008-16 Fousseni Chabi-Yo, Eric Ghysels, Eric Renault The early work of Tobin (1958) showed that portfolio allocation decisions can be reduced to a two stage process: first decide the relative allocation of assets across the risky assets, and second decide how to divide total wealth between the risky assets and the safe asset. This so called twofund separation relies on special assumptions on either returns or preferences. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): C, C5, C52, D, D5, D58, G, G1, G11, G12
Inflation Targeting and Price-Level-Path Targeting in the GEM: Some Open Economy Considerations Staff Working Paper 2008-6 Donald Coletti, René Lalonde, Dirk Muir This paper compares the performance of simple inflation targeting (IT) and price-level path targeting (PLPT) rules to stabilize the macroeconomy, in response to a series of shocks, similar to those seen in Canada and the United States over the 1983 to 2004 period. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Inflation and prices, Inflation: costs and benefits, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): C, C5, C51, C52, E, E1, E17, E3, E31, E5, E52
Implications of Asymmetry Risk for Portfolio Analysis and Asset Pricing Staff Working Paper 2007-47 Fousseni Chabi-Yo, Dietmar Leisen, Eric Renault Asymmetric shocks are common in markets; securities' payoffs are not normally distributed and exhibit skewness. This paper studies the portfolio holdings of heterogeneous agents with preferences over mean, variance and skewness, and derives equilibrium prices. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial markets, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): C, C5, C52, D, D5, D58, G, G1, G11, G12