International topics

• Exporting and FDI with Endogenous Productivity

  Staff Working Paper 2007-14 Oana Secrieru, Marianne Vigneault

  This paper provides an analysis of how a firm’s decision to serve a foreign market by exporting or by engaging in foreign direct investment (FDI) affects firm productivity, when productivity is endogeneous as a function of training. The main result of our paper is that, with endogeneous productivity, exporting results in lower productivity than does FDI, but exporting may result in higher or lower employment and output than does FDI.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): International topics, Labour markets, Productivity JEL Code(s): F, F2, F22, F23

• Do We Need the IMF to Resolve a Crisis? Lessons from Past Episodes of Debt Restructuring

  Staff Working Paper 2007-10 Philipp Maier

  This study investigate how debt restructurings have evolved over the decades. Debtors and creditors have a long history of engaging an outsider – a “third party”, such as the IMF – to organise and facilitate debt restructurings.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial stability, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E5, F, F3, N, N1, N2
• December 23, 2006

  Global Savings, Investment, and World Real Interest Rates

  Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2006-2007 Brigitte Desroches, Michael Francis

  Over the past 25 years, world long-term interest rates have declined to levels not seen since the 1960s. This decline has been accompanied by falling world investment and savings rates. The authors explore global saving and investment outcomes that have led to the fall in the world real interest rate. The results show that the key factors explaining movements in savings and investment are variables that evolve relatively slowly over time, such as labour force growth and the age structure of the world economy. The conclusions suggest that, over the coming years, it is unlikely that these slowly changing variables will be a source of significant changes in world real interest rates.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Interest rates, International topics
• December 8, 2006

  Perspectives on Productivity and Potential Output Growth: A Summary of the Joint Banque de France/Bank of Canada Workshop, 24–25 April 2006

  Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2006-2007 Gilbert Cette, Donald Coletti

  A nation's productivity is the prime determinant of its real incomes and standard of living, as well as being a major determinant of its potential output. In the short run, deviations of actual output from potential output are a useful indicator of inflationary pressures. This article is a short summary of the proceedings of the workshop, which focus on productivity and potential output growth among industrialized countries. The research is organized under three main themes: estimating potential growth; productivity and growth; and institutions, policies, and growth.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): International topics, Potential output, Productivity

• The Long-Term Effects of Cross-Listing, Investor Recognition, and Ownership Structure on Valuation

  Staff Working Paper 2006-44 Michael R. King, Dan Segal

  The authors show that the widening of a foreign firm's U.S. investor base and the improved information environment associated with cross-listing on a U.S. exchange each have a separately identifiable effect on a firm's valuation.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial markets, International topics JEL Code(s): G, G1, G12, G15
• October 20, 2006

  MUSE: The Bank of Canada's New Projection Model of the U.S. Economy

  Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2006 Marc-André Gosselin, René Lalonde, Nicolas Parent

  Staff projections provided for the Bank of Canada's monetary policy decision process take into account the integration of Canada's very open economy within the global economy, as well as its close real and financial linkages with the United States. To provide inputs for this projection, the Bank has developed several models, including MUSE, NEUQ (the New European Quarterly Model), and BoC-GEM (Bank of Canada Global Economy Model), to analyze and forecast economic developments in the rest of the world. The authors focus on MUSE, the model currently used to describe interaction among the principal U.S. economic variables, including gross domestic product, inflation, interest rates, and the exchange rate. Brief descriptions are also provided of NEUQ and BoC-GEM.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Economic models, International topics

• Endogenous Borrowing Constraints and Consumption Volatility in a Small Open Economy

  Staff Working Paper 2006-37 Carlos De Resende

  Consumption volatility relative to output volatility is consistently higher in emerging economies than in developed economies.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): International topics JEL Code(s): F, F3, F32, F34, F4, F41

• Governance and the IMF: Does the Fund Follow Corporate Best Practice?

  Staff Working Paper 2006-32 Eric Santor

  The governance challenges facing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are not simply limited to representation and voice, and the associated question of quota allocation.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): International topics JEL Code(s): F, F3
• June 16, 2006

  Global Imbalances—Just How Dangerous?

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2006 Bruce Little, Robert Lafrance

  The combination of rising current account surpluses in Asia and a growing current account deficit in the United States has raised concerns that the resulting imbalances pose a threat to the world economy, especially if they are reversed in a disorderly manner. Some experts believe that normal market forces will resolve these imbalances over time; others argue that policy-makers should facilitate the adjustment with policies that curb domestic demand in deficit countries and stimulate it in surplus countries. Little and Lafrance provide a guide to the major issues and controversies involved in the debate.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Balance of payments and components, Exchange rates, International topics

• The International Monetary Fund's Balance-Sheet and Credit Risk

  Staff Working Paper 2006-21 Ryan Felushko, Eric Santor

  The authors examine the characteristics of International Monetary Fund (IMF) lending from the 1960s to 2005.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): International topics JEL Code(s): F, F3