Staff analytical notes

The contribution of firm profits to the recent rise in inflation

Staff Analytical Note 2023-12 Panagiotis Bouras, Christian Bustamante, Xing Guo, Jacob Short
We measure the contribution to inflation from the growth in markups of Canadian firms. The dynamics of inflation and markups suggest that changes in markups could account for less than one-tenth of inflation in 2021. Further, they suggest that peak inflation was driven primarily by changes in the costs of firms.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Firm dynamics, Inflation and prices, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, D4, E, E3, E31, L, L1, L11

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Staff working papers

Demographic Origins of the Decline in Labor’s Share

Staff Working Paper 2023-20 Andrew Glover, Jacob Short
Declining labour market dynamism of workers results in an increasing wedge between their earnings and their marginal product as they age. This wedge and the demographic shift in the earnings shares of older workers can account for 59% of the decline in labor’s share of earnings in the United States.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Labour markets, Productivity JEL Code(s): D, D3, D33, E, E2, E25, J, J1, J3, J6, J62

Can Capital Deepening Explain the Global Decline in Labor’s Share?

Staff Working Paper 2019-3 Andrew Glover, Jacob Short
We estimate an aggregate elasticity of substitution between capital and labor near or below one, which implies that capital deepening cannot explain the global decline in labor's share. Our methodology derives from transition paths in the neo-classical growth model.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Firm dynamics, International topics, Labour markets JEL Code(s): E, E1, E13, E2, E22, E25, J, J3

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Journal publications

  • “Can Capital Deepening Explain the Global Decline in Labor's Share?”
    (with Andy Glover), Review of Economic Dynamics, 35 (2020), pp. 35-53.​
  • “Non-traded goods, factor market frictions, and international capital flows”
    (with Jacek Rothert), Forthcoming at Review of Economic Dynamics​