David Amirault

Staff analytical notes

Has wage setting changed in Canada? Evidence from the pre-pandemic 2020 Wage-Setting Survey

Staff Analytical Note 2022-10 David Amirault, Sarah Miller, Matthieu Verstraete
Just before the pandemic began, the Bank of Canada conducted the 2020 Wage-Setting Survey. The goal was to explore the unusual trend of subdued wage growth in 2018 and 2019 despite a tightening in the labour market. Although this wage puzzle was beginning to resolve at the time of the survey, results highlight changes in several factors that may have important impacts on wage dynamics.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Labour markets JEL Code(s): J, J3, J31, J32, J33, J6, J63

Canadian Labour Market Dispersion: Mind the (Shrinking) Gap

Staff Analytical Note 2016-3 David Amirault, Naveen Rai
Shocks to a currency area can and often do have asymmetric impacts on its regions that, in the absence of perfect labour mobility, lead to gaps in relative labour market performance. Witness, for example, the effects of the 2008/09 recession and subsequent financial crisis in Europe on the dispersion of employment rates across the euro area – and to a lesser extent the United States.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Labour markets, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): J, J0, J01, R, R2, R23

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Staff discussion papers

A Reference Guide for the Business Outlook Survey

Staff Discussion Paper 2020-15 David Amirault, Naveen Rai, Laurent Martin
The Business Outlook Survey (BOS) has become an important part of monetary policy deliberations at the Bank of Canada and is also well known in Canadian policy and financial circles. This paper compiles more than 20 years of experience conducting the BOS and serves as a comprehensive reference manual.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Firm dynamics, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): C, C8, C83, D, D2, D22, E, E3, E32

What’s Up with Unit Non-Response in the Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook Survey? The Effect of Staff Tenure

Staff Discussion Paper 2017-11 Sarah Miller, David Amirault, Laurent Martin
Since 1997, the Bank of Canada’s regional offices have been conducting the Business Outlook Survey (BOS), a quarterly survey of business conditions. Survey responses are gathered through face-to-face, confidential consultations with a sample of private sector firms representative of the various sectors, firm sizes and regions across Canada.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Firm dynamics, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): C, C2, C21, C8, C81, D, D2, D22

Asking About Wages: Results from the Bank of Canada’s Wage Setting Survey of Canadian Companies

Staff Discussion Paper 2013-1 David Amirault, Paul Fenton, Thérèse Laflèche
The Bank of Canada conducted a Wage Setting Survey with a sample of 200 private sector firms from mid-October 2007 to May 2008. Results indicate that wage adjustments for the Canadian non-union private workforce are overwhelmingly time dependent, with a fixed duration of one year, and are clustered in the first four months of the year, suggesting that wage stickiness may not be constant over the year.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Labour markets, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, J, J3, J33, M, M5, M52

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Staff working papers

What Drags and Drives Mobility: Explaining Canada’s Aggregate Migration Patterns

Staff Working Paper 2012-28 David Amirault, Daniel de Munnik, Sarah Miller
Using census data at the economic region level from 1991 to 2006 and a gravity model framework, this paper examines the factors that influence migration within Canada.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Labour markets, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): J, J6, J61, R, R2, R23

The Zero Bound on Nominal Interest Rates: How Important Is It?

Staff Working Paper 2001-6 David Amirault, Brian O'Reilly
This paper surveys the literature on the zero bound on the nominal interest rate. It addresses questions ranging from the conditions under which the zero bound on the nominal interest rate might occur to policy options to avoid or use to exit from such a situation. We discuss literature that examines historical and country evidence, and literature that uses models to generate evidence on this question.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Credibility, Inflation targets, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E5, E52, E58, E6, E61

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Bank publications

Bank of Canada Review articles

May 16, 2013

Explaining Canada’s Regional Migration Patterns

Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2013 David Amirault, Daniel de Munnik, Sarah Miller
Understanding the factors that determine the migration of labour between regions is crucial for assessing the economy’s response to macroeconomic shocks and identifying policies that will encourage an efficient reallocation of labour. By examining the determinants of migration within Canada from 1991 to 2006, this article provides evidence that regional differences in employment rates and household incomes tend to increase labour migration, and that provincial borders and language differences are barriers to migration.
Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Labour markets, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): J, J6, J61, R, R2, R23
December 23, 2004

A Survey of the Price-Setting Behaviour of Canadian Companies

Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2004-2005 David Amirault, Carolyn Kwan, Gordon Wilkinson
To better understand price-setting behaviour in the Canadian economy, the Bank of Canada's regional offices surveyed a representative sample of 170 firms between July 2002 and March 2003. The authors discuss the reasons behind the survey, the methodology used to develop the questionnaire and conduct the interviews, and summarize the results. The study also assessed several explanations for holding prices steady despite market pressures for a change. The survey findings indicate that prices in Canada are relatively flexible and have become more flexible over the past decade. Price stickiness was generally found to originate in firms' fears of antagonizing customers or disturbing the goodwill or reputation developed with them. A detailed discussion of the results includes a consideration of their implications for monetary policy.
Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Research Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Monetary policy transmission
November 15, 2000

Recent Performance of the Canadian Economy: A Regional View

Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2000 David Amirault, Louis-Robert Lafleur
This article first outlines the activities of the Bank's regional offices and looks at how regional economic analysis fits into the Bank's decision-making process. The changing role of the regional offices in communications and in information gathering is examined, focusing on the quarterly surveys of industries and associations. The second section reviews, from a regional perspective, economic developments since the Asian crisis and future prospects.
Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Research Topic(s): Regional economic developments

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The Economy, Plain and Simple