Business fluctuations and cycles

• Labor Market Policies During an Epidemic

  Staff Working Paper 2020-54 Serdar Birinci, Fatih Karahan, Yusuf Mercan, Kurt See

  We study the labour market and welfare effects of expanding unemployment insurance benefits and introducing payroll subsidies during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that both policies are complementary and are beneficial to different types of workers. Payroll subsidies preserve the employment of workers in highly productive jobs, while unemployment insurance replaces lost income for workers who experience inevitable job loss.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Fiscal policy, Labour markets JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E6, E62, J, J6, J64

• Can the Business Outlook Survey Help Improve Estimates of the Canadian Output Gap?

  Staff Discussion Paper 2020-14 Calista Cheung, Luke Frymire, Lise Pichette

  We investigate whether questions in the Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook Survey can provide useful signals for the output gap.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Central bank research, Economic models, Monetary policy and uncertainty, Potential output JEL Code(s): E, E3