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538
result(s)
Financial Conditions Indexes for Canada
Staff Working Paper 2004-22
Céline Gauthier,
Christopher Graham,
Ying Liu
The authors construct three financial conditions indexes (FCIs) for Canada based on three approaches: an IS-curve-based model, generalized impulse-response functions, and factor analysis.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Monetary and financial indicators,
Monetary conditions index
JEL Code(s):
E,
E4,
E44,
E5,
E52
May 21, 2004
Are Wealth Effects Important for Canada?
Some analysts believe that a sharp rise in equity values was an important factor in the strong consumer spending between 1995 and 2000. Empirical evidence suggests, however, that consumer spending responds more to changes in housing wealth than it does to equity wealth.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Domestic demand and components
The Effects of Economic News on Bond Market Liquidity
Staff Working Paper 2004-16
Chris D'Souza,
Charles Gaa
The authors contrast the impact of two sources of information flow on the volatility of prices, trading activity, and liquidity in the brokered interdealer market for Government of Canada bonds.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Debt management,
Financial markets,
Market structure and pricing
JEL Code(s):
G,
G1,
G14
December 22, 2003
Current Account Imbalances: Some Key Issues for the Major Industrialized Countries
The resurgence of sizable current account imbalances in the major economies in recent years, particularly the tripling of the U.S. deficit, has led to renewed academic and public discussions about their sustainability. Jacob's main objective is to show that current account balances are simply the outcome of various relative structural and cyclical forces between trading partners. He reviews the factors behind the changes in the current account positions of the three largest industrial economies (the United States, Japan, and the euro area). Two strong determinants shaping the current account balances are the faster increase in U.S. productivity compared with that of other major economies and, more recently, the loosening in the U.S. fiscal stance. Jacob also reviews a range of outside assessments from such sources as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Monetary Fund, as well as the academic literature, to determine the possible risks to macroeconomic and financial stability.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Exchange rates,
International topics
November 22, 2003
Recent Labour Market Developments in Canada
In the year and a half leading up to mid-2003, both employment and labour force participation increased at an unusually rapid pace compared to domestic economic activity. Gains in employment were unusually large, relative to output growth, compared to gains in total hours worked. This is explained by a faster rate of increase in the participation rate of the 55 and older age group, many of whom opted for part-time employment. This shift in the composition of employment contributed to a reduction in the length of the average workweek in 2002. As a result, labour input progressed at a rate that was markedly slower than for employment and more in line with its historical relationship to output growth. The authors anticipate that the 55 and older age group will continue to participate strongly in the labour force, but that as the economy rebounds and uncertainty diminishes, the cyclical component in the growth of part-time work should diminish and that of full-time employment increase. Employment growth should moderate in relation to output growth and there may be a cyclical rebound in labour productivity as total hours worked increases during the initial recovery in output growth.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Labour markets
Are Wealth Effects Important for Canada?
Staff Working Paper 2003-30
Lise Pichette,
Dominique Tremblay
The authors examine the link between consumption and disaggregate wealth in Canada. They use a vector-error-correction model in which permanent and transitory shocks are identified using the restrictions implied by cointegration proposed by King, Plosser, Stock, and Watson (1991) and Gonzalo and Granger (1995).
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Domestic demand and components
JEL Code(s):
C,
C3,
C32,
E,
E2,
E21
Essays on Financial Stability
Technical Report No. 95
John Chant,
Alexandra Lai,
Mark Illing,
Fred Daniel
The four essays published here provide a useful overview for anyone interested in understanding the issues and policy environment surrounding financial system stability.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Technical reports
Topic(s):
Financial institutions,
Financial markets
JEL Code(s):
G,
G2,
G28
August 23, 2003
Financial Developments in Canada: Past Trends and Future Challenges
Freedman and Engert focus on the changing pattern of lending and borrowing in Canada in the past thirty to forty years, including the types of financial instruments used and the relative roles of financial institutions and financial markets. They examine how borrowing mechanisms have changed over time and consider the challenges facing the Canadian financial sector, including whether our financial markets are in danger of disappearing because of the size and pre-eminence of U.S. financial markets. Some of the trends examined here include syndicated lending, securitization, and credit derivatives, a form of financial engineering that has become increasingly important in the last few years. They also study bond and equity markets to determine whether Canadian capital markets have been hollowed out or abandoned by Canadian firms and conclude that the data do not provide much support for that view.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Financial institutions,
Financial markets,
Financial services,
Recent economic and financial developments
May 23, 2003
The Bank of Canada: Moving Towards Transparency
During the 1990s the Bank of Canada made several changes that transformed its conduct of monetary policy. In the 1960s and 1970s, policy decisions were made in an environment characterized by instrument opaqueness and goal opaqueness, which tended to shield the Bank's operations from scrutiny and accountability. Since the 1970s the Bank has moved towards transparency and openness by rejecting multiple policy instruments and adopting a single, well-defined goal of inflation control. A recent survey has shown that the Bank of Canada is in the middle range of central banks with regard to its transparency and has lost points for not publishing the forecasts that shape its policy or the minutes and voting records of its governing body. Chant suggests that the public has benefited significantly from the changes the Bank has made, but that it should continue to support research on the benefits of low and stable inflation and continually inform other policy-makers and the public of the results.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles