Exchange Rates and Oil Prices Staff Working Paper 1995-8 Robert Amano, Simon van Norden This paper derives analytical gradients for a broad class of regime-switching models with Markovian state-transition probabilities. Such models are usually estimated by maximum likelihood methods, which require the derivatives of the likelihood function with respect to the parameter vector. These gradients are usually calculated by means of numerical techniques. The paper shows that analytical gradients […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rates
August 10, 1995 Aspects of economic restructuring in Canada, 1989-1994 Bank of Canada Review - Summer 1995 Ron Parker The way in which Canadian firms produce goods and services has changed dramatically during the 1990s. A major feature of this restructuring has been a shift towards greater use of capital goods, particularly computer-based technology, relative to labour in production processes. The author examines this phenomenon from a macroeconomic perspective, identifying the principal factors behind the trends in investment and employment since the late 1980s. The analysis focusses on the relative costs of capital and labour over the period and on their implications for output and employment. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Productivity, Recent economic and financial developments
August 10, 1995 Bank of Canada Review - Summer 1995 Cover page France: 1,000 francs, 1944 The 1,000 franc note is part of the National Currency Collection, Bank of Canada. Photography by James Zagon. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review
August 9, 1995 Uncertainty and the transmission of monetary policy in Canada (HERMES-Glendon Lecture) Bank of Canada Review - Summer 1995 Gordon Thiessen Gordon Thiessen, Governor of the Bank of Canada, delivered the HERMES-Glendon Lecture at York University, Toronto, in March 1995. The speech focussed on the interrelationships of uncertainty and the transmission of monetary policy to the economy. It looked at how the various types of uncertainty influence the behaviour of economic actors, and at how uncertainty affects the transmission of monetary policy through the economy. The first part of the lecture outlines the Bank of Canada's view of the transmission mechanism, with considerable attention paid to the role of uncertainty. In the second part, the various ways in which the Bank has tried to reduce uncertainty are discussed. The various kinds of uncertainty that impinge on the economy and on the policy process are addressed. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Monetary policy implementation
Analytical Derivatives for Markov Switching Models Staff Working Paper 1995-7 Jeff Gable, Simon van Norden, Robert Vigfusson This paper derives analytical gradients for a broad class of regime-switching models with Markovian state-transition probabilities. Such models are usually estimated by maximum likelihood methods, which require the derivatives of the likelihood function with respect to the parameter vector. These gradients are usually calculated by means of numerical techniques. The paper shows that analytical gradients […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods
Inflation, Learning and Monetary Policy Regimes in The G-7 Economies Staff Working Paper 1995-6 Nicholas Ricketts, David Rose In this paper, the authors report estimates of two- and three-state Markov switching models applied to inflation, measured using consumer price indexes, in the G-7 countries. They report tests that show that two-state models are preferred to simple one-state representations of the data, and argue that three-state representations are more satisfactory than two-state representations for […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices
May 15, 1995 Monetary Policy Report – May 1995 This is the first in a series of semi-annual reports by the Bank of Canada on Canadian monetary policy. Content Type(s): Publications, Monetary Policy Report
May 9, 1995 Interpreting recent changes in monetary aggregates Bank of Canada Review - Spring 1995 Kevin Clinton In 1994, broad monetary aggregates such as M2+ grew at an unusually slow rate, indicating a continuation of low inflation. Narrow money, M1, ballooned early in the year, partly for technical reasons. However, its overall deceleration for the year as a whole would be consistent with lower output growth in the first half of 1995 than was seen the year before. During the first half of 1994, there was a continued shift by investors from deposits into equity, bond and mortgage mutual funds. In the second half of the year, following a rise in interest rates and a fall in the yields posted by mutual funds, there was a movement back into M2+. In this annual review of the monetary aggregates, the author discusses the reasons for these shifts and their implications for M2+. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Monetary aggregates
May 9, 1995 Bank of Canada Review - Spring 1995 Cover page Canada: sovereign die, 1908 The die is part of the National Currency Collection, Bank of Canada. Photography by James Zagon. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review
May 8, 1995 Exchange rate fundamentals and the Canadian dollar Bank of Canada Review - Spring 1995 Robert Lafrance, Simon van Norden Views in the economic literature on the main factors that influence exchange rates have evolved over time in response to economic developments and new trends in economic theory. This article provides a brief interpretative survey of the main theories of exchange rate determination. The factors that influence exchange rate developments are varied and complex. However, the authors show that the broad movements of the Canada-U.S. real exchange rate since the early 1970s can be captured by a simple equation that highlights the role of commodity prices and Canada-U.S. interest rate differentials. The equation is used to interpret the evolution of the real exchange rate over the last two decades. At times, the real exchange rate deviates significantly from what the equation would predict. One explanation is that the equation omits certain factors that can influence the exchange rate, particularly in the short run. These may include fiscal policy variables, international indebtedness, political uncertainty, and investor sentiments—factors that are difficult to quantify but that have been particularly relevant in recent years. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Exchange rates