Inflation and prices

• November 7, 2011

  Renewal of the Inflation-Control Target (November 2011)

  Commentary and technical data relating to the 2011 target renewal.

  Content Type(s): Background materials Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Monetary policy

• Money and Price Posting under Private Information

  Staff Working Paper 2011-22 Mei Dong, Janet Hua Jiang

  We study price posting with undirected search in a search-theoretic monetary model with divisible money and divisible goods. Ex ante homogeneous buyers experience match specific preference shocks in bilateral trades. The shocks follow a continuous distribution and the realization of the shocks is private information.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): D, D8, D82, D83, E, E3, E31

• The Behaviour of Consumer Prices Across Provinces

  Staff Discussion Paper 2011-2 Gordon Wilkinson

  Measures of core inflation enable a central bank to distinguish price movements that are transitory and generated by non-monetary events from those that are more permanent and related to prior monetary policy decisions.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31

• Semi-Structural Models for Inflation Forecasting

  Staff Working Paper 2010-34 Maral Kichian, Rumler Fabio, Paul Corrigan

  We propose alternative single-equation semi-structural models for forecasting inflation in Canada, whereby structural New Keynesian models are combined with time-series features in the data. Several marginal cost measures are used, including one that in addition to unit labour cost also integrates relative price shocks known to play an important role in open-economies.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): C, C1, C13, C5, C53, E, E3, E31
• November 19, 2010

  Has Exchange Rate Pass-Through Really Declined? Some Recent Insights from the Literature

  Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2010 Jeannine Bailliu, Wei Dong, John Murray

  Building on an earlier Review article, the authors critically reassess the premise that exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) has declined in light of recent studies of the issue in the context of a dynamic stochastic general-equilibrium framework.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Economic models, Exchange rates, Inflation and prices, Monetary policy framework

• The Fisher BCPI: The Bank of Canada’s New Commodity Price Index

  Staff Discussion Paper 2010-6 Ilan Kolet, Ryan Macdonald

  The prices of commodities produced in Canada have important implications for the performance of the Canadian economy and the conduct of monetary policy. The authors explain an important change to the methodology used to construct the Bank of Canada commodity price index (BCPI).

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): C, C1, E, E3

• Alternative Optimized Monetary Policy Rules in Multi-Sector Small Open Economies: The Role of Real Rigidities

  Staff Working Paper 2010-9 Carlos De Resende, Ali Dib, Maral Kichian

  Inflation-targeting central banks around the world often state their inflation objectives with regard to the consumer price index (CPI). Yet the literature on optimal monetary policy based on models with nominal rigidities and more than one sector suggests that CPI inflation is not always the best choice from a social welfare perspective.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Inflation targets, Inflation: costs and benefits, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy implementation JEL Code(s): E, E4, E5, E52, F, F3, F4

• Labour Reallocation, Relative Prices and Productivity

  Staff Working Paper 2010-2 Shutao Cao, Danny Leung

  This paper documents the rate at which labour flows between industries and between firms within industries using the most recent data available. It examines the determinants of these flows and their relationship with the productivity growth.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Labour markets, Productivity JEL Code(s): D, D2, D23, E, E3, E32, J, J6
• November 11, 2009

  Declining Inflation Persistence in Canada: Causes and Consequences

  Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2009-2010 Rhys R. Mendes, Stephen Murchison

  The persistence of both core and total consumer price index inflation in Canada has declined significantly since the 1980s. In addition to providing up-to-date estimates of inflation persistence, this article examines possible reasons for the decline suggested in the literature. The role played by monetary policy, through its effect on price- and wage-setting behaviour, is distinguished from possible changes to the structure of the economy that are independent of monetary policy. The authors also discuss the implications for monetary policy of low structural persistence in inflation, including the choice of an inflation-targeting regime versus a price-level-targeting regime.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Monetary policy framework

• 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