Extracting Information from the Business Outlook Survey Using Statistical Approaches Staff Discussion Paper 2012-8 Lise Pichette Since the autumn of 1997, the regional offices of the Bank of Canada have conducted quarterly consultations with businesses across Canada. These consultations, summarized in the Business Outlook Survey (BOS), are structured around a survey questionnaire that covers topics of importance to the Bank, notably business activity, pressures on production capacity, prices and inflation, and credit conditions. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): C, C4, C43, C8, C82, E, E3, E37
On the Welfare Effects of Credit Arrangements Staff Working Paper 2012-43 Jonathan Chiu, Mei Dong, Enchuan Shao This paper studies the welfare effects of different credit arrangements and how these effects depend on the trading mechanism and inflation. In a competitive market, a deviation from the Friedman rule is always sub-optimal. Moreover, credit arrangements can be welfare-reducing, because increased consumption by credit users will drive up the price level so that money users have to reduce consumption when facing a binding liquidity restraint. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E40, E5, E50
Financial Crisis Resolution Staff Working Paper 2012-42 Josef Schroth This paper studies a dynamic version of the Holmstrom-Tirole model of intermediated finance. I show that competitive equilibria are not constrained efficient when the economy experiences a financial crisis. A pecuniary externality entails that banks’ desire to accumulate capital over time aggravates the scarcity of informed capital during the financial crisis. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial markets, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): D, D5, D53, E, E6, E60, G, G0, G01, G1, G10, G18
December 20, 2012 Bank of Canada Announces Details of a Term Repo for Balance Sheet Management Purposes Operation The Bank of Canada announced today that it will conduct a Term Repo for Balance Sheet Management Purposes operation. Content Type(s): Press, Market notices
December 19, 2012 Results of the 19 December 2012 Term Repo Operation for Balance Sheet Management Purposes Results of today's term repo for balance sheet management purposes operation. Content Type(s): Press, Market notices
December 18, 2012 Bank of Canada Margin Call Practice for Domestic Market Operations For transactions outstanding against securities purchased or sold under a term purchase and resale agreement, the Bank values the securities daily, and compares that value to the contract valuation to ensure the Bank is adequately protected.
Estimating the Policy Rule from Money Market Rates when Target Rate Changes Are Lumpy Staff Working Paper 2012-41 Jean-Sébastien Fontaine Most central banks effect changes to their target or policy rate in discrete increments (e.g., multiples of 0.25%) following public announcements on scheduled dates. Still, for most applications, researchers rely on the assumption that the policy rate changes linearly with economic conditions and they do not distinguish between dates with and without scheduled announcements. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Asset pricing, Financial markets, Interest rates JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, E44, E47, G, G1, G12, G13
December 18, 2012 Bank of Canada Announces Details of a Term Repo for Balance Sheet Management Purposes Operation The Bank of Canada announced today that it will conduct a Term Repo for Balance Sheet Management Purposes operation. Content Type(s): Press, Market notices
December 18, 2012 Changes to Assets Eligible as Collateral under the Bank of Canada’s Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF) Effective 19 December 2012, the Bank of Canada is adding certain covered bonds as assets eligible to be pledged as collateral under its Standing Liquidity Facility. Content Type(s): Press, Market notices
The Effects of Oil Price Uncertainty on the Macroeconomy Staff Working Paper 2012-40 Soojin Jo This paper investigates the effect of oil price uncertainty on real economic activity using a quarterly VAR with stochastic volatility in mean. Stochastic volatility allows oil price uncertainty to vary separately from changes in the level of oil prices, and thus the impact of oil price uncertainty can be examined in a more flexible yet tractable way. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C3, C32, E, E3, E32, Q, Q4, Q43