Zhentong Lu - Latest

• Estimating Discrete Choice Demand Models with Sparse Market-Product Shocks

  Staff Working Paper 2025-10 Zhentong Lu, Kenichi Shimizu

  We propose a novel approach to estimating consumer demand for differentiated products. We eliminate the need for instrumental variables by assuming demand shocks are sparse. Our empirical applications reveal strong evidence of sparsity in real-world datasets.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): C, C1, C3, D, D1, L, L0, L00

• Three things we learned about the Lynx payment system

  Staff Analytical Note 2023-14 Nikil Chande, Zhentong Lu, Hiru Rodrigo, Phoebe Tian

  Canada transitioned to a new wholesale payment system, Lynx, in August 2021. Lynx is based on a real-time settlement model that eliminates credit risk in the system. This model can require more liquidity; however, Lynx’s design allows Canada’s wholesale payments to settle efficiently.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial services, Financial system regulation and policies, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): C, C1, C10, E, E4, E42, G, G2, G28

• Flagship Entry in Online Marketplaces

  Staff Working Paper 2023-41 Ginger Zhe Jin, Zhentong Lu, Xiaolu Zhou, Lu Fang

  In this paper, we empirically study how flagship entry in an online marketplace affects consumers, the platform, and various sellers on the platform. We find flagship entry may benefit consumers by expanding the choice set, by intensifying price competition within the entry brand, and by improving consumer perception for parts of the platform.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Economic models, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): D, D4, L, L1, L8

• How Banks Create Gridlock to Save Liquidity in Canada's Large Value Payment System

  Staff Working Paper 2023-26 Rodney J. Garratt, Zhentong Lu, Phoebe Tian

  We show how participants in Canada’s new high-value payment system save liquidity by exploiting the new gridlock resolution arrangement. The findings have important implications for the design of these systems and shed light on financial institutions’ liquidity preference.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial institutions, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E58, G, G2, G21

• From LVTS to Lynx: Quantitative Assessment of Payment System Transition

  Staff Working Paper 2023-24 Ajit Desai, Zhentong Lu, Hiru Rodrigo, Jacob Sharples, Phoebe Tian, Nellie Zhang

  We quantitatively assess the changes in participants’ payment behaviour from modernizing Canada's high-value payments system to Lynx. Our analysis suggests that Lynx's liquidity-saving mechanism encourages liquidity pooling and early payments submission, resulting in improved efficiency for participants but with slightly increased payment delays.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial services, Financial system regulation and policies, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): C, C1, C10, E, E4, E42, G, G2, G28

• Transmission of Cyber Risk Through the Canadian Wholesale Payment System

  Staff Working Paper 2022-23 Anneke Kosse, Zhentong Lu

  This paper studies how the impact of a cyber attack that paralyzes one or multiple banks' ability to send payments would transmit to other banks through the Canadian wholesale payment system. Based on historical payment data, we simulate a wide range of scenarios and evaluate the total payment disruption in the system.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial stability, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): C, C4, C49, E, E4, E42, E47, G, G2, G21

• Quantifying the Economic Benefits of Payments Modernization: the Case of the Large-Value Payment System

  Staff Working Paper 2021-64 Neville Arjani, Fuchun Li, Zhentong Lu

  Canada is undertaking a major initiative to modernize its payments ecosystem. The modernized ecosystem is expected to bring significant benefits to Canadian financial markets and the overall economy. We develop an empirical framework to quantify the economic benefits of modernizing the payment system in Canada.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial system regulation and policies, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): C, C3, E, E4, E42, G, G1, G2, G28

• Measuring the Effectiveness of Salespeople: Evidence from a Cold-Drink Market

  Staff Working Paper 2021-40 Haofeng Jin, Zhentong Lu

  Salespeople are widely employed in many industries. We leverage a unique data set on retail sales from a leading Chinese cold-drink manufacturer and information on the firm’s salespeople assignment rule to measure the causal effect of salespeople on product revenue.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Labour markets, Service sector JEL Code(s): L, L8, L81, M, M3, M5

• The Effects of Government Licensing on E-commerce: Evidence from Alibaba

  Staff Working Paper 2021-32 Ginger Zhe Jin, Zhentong Lu, Xiaolu Zhou, Chunxiao Li

  How does government licensing affect selling on online platforms? We examine the impact of China’s 2015 Food Safety Law on sellers and buyers on Alibaba, the largest e-commerce platform in that country.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Market structure and pricing, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): D, D8, D82, K, K2, K23, L, L5, L8, L81

• Examining the Impact of Home Purchase Restrictions on China’s Housing Market

  Staff Working Paper 2021-18 Zhentong Lu, Sisi Zhang, Jian Hong

  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.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Housing, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): O, O1, O18, R, R3, R31, R38