Monetary Policy Transmission amid Demand Reallocations Staff Working Paper 2024-42 Julien Bengui, Lu Han, Gaelan MacKenzie We analyze the transmission of monetary policy during different phases of a sectoral demand reallocation episode when there are frictions to increasing production in a sector. Monetary policy is more effective in reducing inflation when a larger proportion of sectors are expanding or expect to expand in the near future. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Domestic demand and components, Inflation and prices, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E1, E12, E2, E24, E3, E31, E5, E52
From Micro to Macro Hysteresis: Long-Run Effects of Monetary Policy Staff Working Paper 2024-39 Felipe Alves, Giovanni L. Violante We explore the long-run effects of a monetary policy shock in a Heterogeneous Agent New Keynesian model built on the micro evidence that job losses lead to persistently lower individual earnings through a combination of skill decay and abandonment of the labour force. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Labour markets, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E24, E3, E31, E32, E5, E52, J, J2, J24, J6, J64
Consumer Credit Regulation and Lender Market Power Staff Working Paper 2024-36 Zachary Bethune, Joaquín Saldain, Eric R. Young We investigate the welfare consequences of consumer credit regulation in a dynamic, heterogeneous-agent model with endogenous lender market power. Lenders post credit offers and borrowers—some informed and others uninformed—apply for credit. We calibrate the model to match characteristics of the unsecured consumer credit market and use the calibrated model to evaluate interest rate ceilings. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial markets, Interest rates JEL Code(s): D, D1, D15, D4, D43, D6, D60, D8, D83, E, E2, E21, G, G5, G51
Household Food Inflation in Canada Staff Working Paper 2024-33 Olena Kostyshyna, Maude Ouellet We study food inflation rates for Canadian households during periods of low and high inflation from 2012Q4 to 2023Q4. Households experienced more varied inflation rates during the recent high inflation. Cumulative food inflation has been 2.2 percentage points higher for lower-income households than for highest-income households since the inflation surge. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E3, E30, E31, L, L8, L81
Let’s Get Physical: Impacts of Climate Change Physical Risks on Provincial Employment Staff Working Paper 2024-32 Thibaut Duprey, Soojin Jo, Geneviève Vallée We analyze 40 years’ worth of natural disasters using a local projection framework to assess their impact on provincial labour markets in Canada. We find that disasters decrease hours worked within a week and lower wage growth in the medium run. Our study highlights that disasters affect vulnerable workers through the income channel. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Climate change, Labour markets, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): C, C3, C33, E, E2, E24, J, J3, Q, Q5, Q54
Price Discounts and Cheapflation During the Post-Pandemic Inflation Surge Staff Working Paper 2024-31 Alberto Cavallo, Oleksiy Kryvtsov We study how price variation within a store changes with inflation, and whether households exploit these changes to reduce the burden of inflation. We find that price changes from discounts mitigated the inflation burden while cheapflation exacerbated it. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Inflation: costs and benefits, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E3, E30, E31, L, L8, L81
Housing Affordability and Parental Income Support Staff Working Paper 2024-28 Jason Allen, Kyra Carmichael, Robert Clark, Shaoteng Li, Nicolas Vincent In many countries, the cost of housing has greatly outpaced income growth, leading to a housing affordability crisis. Leveraging Canadian loan-level data and quasi-experimental variation in payment-to-income constraints, we document an increasing reliance of first-time homebuyers on financial help from their parents, through mortgage co-signing. We show that parental support can effectively relax borrowing constraints—potentially to riskier borrowers. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial services, Financial system regulation and policies, Housing JEL Code(s): D, D6, D64, E, E2, E21, E24, G, G1, G18, G5, G51
Credit Card Minimum Payment Restrictions Staff Working Paper 2024-26 Jason Allen, Michael Boutros, Benedict Guttman-Kenney We study a government policy that restricts repayment choices with the aim of reducing credit card debt and estimate its effects by applying a difference-in-differences methodology to comprehensive credit-reporting data about Canadian consumers. We find the policy has trade-offs: reducing revolving debt comes at a cost of reducing credit access, and potentially increasing delinquency. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): D, D1, D18, E, E2, E21, G, G2, G28, G5, G51
Impacts of interest rate hikes on the consumption of households with a mortgage Staff Analytical Note 2024-14 Panagiotis Bouras, Joaquín Saldain, Xing Guo, Thomas Michael Pugh, Maria teNyenhuis We assess how much the recent rate-hike cycle has and will affect mortgage borrowers' consumption through its impacts on mortgage payments. Our analysis provides insights into the effects of changes in monetary policy on the consumption of mortgage borrowers. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Interest rates, Monetary policy, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): D, D1, D13, E, E2, E21, G, G5
Sources of pandemic-era inflation in Canada: an application of the Bernanke and Blanchard model Staff Analytical Note 2024-13 Fares Bounajm, Jean Garry Junior Roc, Yang Zhang We explore the drivers of the surge in inflation in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. This work is part of a joint effort by 11 central banks using the model developed by Bernanke and Blanchard (2023) to identify similarities and differences across economies. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Economic models, Inflation and prices, Labour markets JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E3, E31, E37, E5, E52, E6