COVID-19 and Implications for Automation
Occupations held by females with mid-level education face the highest risk of accelerated automation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Staff working papers
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Shaping the future: Policy shocks and the GDP growth distribution
Can central bank and government policies impact the risks around the outlook for GDP growth? We find that fiscal stimulus makes strong GDP growth more likely—even more so when monetary policy is constrained—rather than weak GDP growth less likely. Thus, fiscal stimulus should accelerate the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. -
An Empirical Analysis of Bill Payment Choices
How do Canadians pay their bills? 2019 survey data collected from over 4,000 Canadian consumers show how people’s bill payment choices vary with consumer characteristics and types of bills. The data also reveal that many consumers feel limited in their choices, which suggests that preferences of billers might play an important role as well. -
Evolving Temperature Dynamics in Canada: Preliminary Evidence Based on 60 Years of Data
Are summers getting hotter? Do daily temperatures change more than they used to? Using daily Canadian temperature data from 1960 to 2020 and modern econometric methods, we provide economists and policy-makers evidence on the important climate change issue of evolving temperatures. -
Optimal Monetary and Macroprudential Policies
Optimal coordination of monetary and macroprudential policies implies higher risk weights on (safe) bonds any time that banks are required to hold additional capital buffers. Coordination also implies a somewhat tighter monetary-policy stance whenever such capital buffers are released. -
Four Decades of Canadian Earnings Inequality and Dynamics Across Workers and Firms
We use four decades of Canadian matched employer-employee data to explore how inequality and the dynamics of individual earnings have evolved over time in Canada. We also examine how the earnings growth of individuals is related to the growth of their employers. -
Payments on Digital Platforms: Resiliency, Interoperability and Welfare
This paper studies the business model choice between running a cash platform and a token platform, as well as its welfare and policy implications. -
Examining the Impact of Home Purchase Restrictions on China’s Housing Market
How do “cooling measures” in the housing market—policies aimed to stabilize prices—affect the market? We use a structural model of housing demand and price competition among developers to evaluate China’s home purchase restriction policies implemented in 2010–11. -
Trade and Market Power in Product and Labor Markets
Trade liberalizations increase the sales and input purchases of productive firms relative to their less productive domestic competitors. This reallocation affects firms’ market power in their product and input markets. I quantify how the labour market power of employers affects the distribution and size of the gains from trade. -
How Long is Forever in the Laboratory? Three Implementations of an Infinite-Horizon Monetary Economy
Standard monetary models adopt an infinite horizon with discounting. Testing these models in the lab requires implementing this horizon within a limited time frame. We compare three approaches to such an implementation and discuss their relative advantages.