February 23, 2012
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1012
result(s)
February 23, 2012
Household Borrowing and Spending in Canada
Understanding how much of the increased debt load of Canadian households has been used to finance household spending on consumption and home renovation is important for the conduct of monetary policy. In this article, the authors use a comprehensive data set that provides information on the uses of debt by Canadian households. They first present some facts regarding the evolution of Canadian household debt over the period from 1999 to 2010, emphasizing the increased importance of debt flows that are secured by housing. They then explore how Canadian households have used their borrowed funds over the same period, and assess the role of these borrowed funds in financing total consumption and spending on home renovation. Finally, they examine the possible effects of a decline in house prices on consumption when housing equity is used as collateral against household indebtedness.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Credit and credit aggregates,
Domestic demand and components,
Monetary policy transmission
JEL Code(s):
E,
E2,
E21,
E5,
E51,
H,
H3,
H31
February 23, 2012
Medium-Term Fluctuations in Canadian House Prices
This article draws on theory and empirical evidence to examine a number of factors behind movements in Canadian house prices. It begins with an overview of the movements in house prices in Canada, using regional data to highlight factors that influence prices over the long run. It then turns to the central theme, that there are medium-run movements in prices not accounted for by long-run factors. Drawing on recent Bank of Canada research, the article discusses several factors behind these medium-run movements, including interest rates, expected price appreciation and market liquidity. The article concludes by identifying areas for future research that would further our understanding of fluctuations in house prices.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Asset pricing,
Econometric and statistical methods,
Market structure and pricing
JEL Code(s):
R,
R2,
R21,
R3,
R31
February 23, 2012
Household Insolvency in Canada
With increasing levels of household debt in recent years, the number of households that may be vulnerable to a negative economic shock is rising as well. Decisions made by both the debtor and the creditor can contribute to insolvency. This article presents some stylized facts about insolvency in Canada’s household sector and analyzes the role of creditors in insolvencies. The average debt of an individual filing for bankruptcy is more than 1.5 times that of an average Canadian household; bankruptcy filers tend to be unemployed or in low-wage jobs, and are typically renters. The article reports that banks that approve more loans per branch, which is interpreted as less-intensive use of soft information (such as the loan officer’s assessment of the applicant’s character), experience more client bankruptcies. This finding has important policy implications, because financial institutions that do not use soft information risk further deterioration in their lending portfolios.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Financial institutions,
Financial services
JEL Code(s):
D,
D4,
G,
G2
Why Is Cash (Still) So Entrenched? Insights from the Bank of Canada’s 2009 Methods-of-Payment Survey
Staff Discussion Paper 2012-2
Carlos Arango,
Dylan Hogg,
Alyssa Lee
The authors present key insights from the Bank of Canada’s 2009 Methods-of-Payment survey. In the survey, about 6,800 participants completed a questionnaire with detailed information regarding their personal finances, as well as their use and perceptions of different payment methods.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff discussion papers
Topic(s):
Bank notes,
Financial services
JEL Code(s):
D,
D1,
D12,
E,
E4,
E41,
L,
L8,
L81
Price Competition and Concentration in Search and Negotiation Markets: Evidence from Mortgage Lending
Staff Working Paper 2012-4
Jason Allen,
Robert Clark,
Jean-François Houde
This paper examines the impact of bank consolidation on mortgage rates in order to evaluate the extent to which mortgage markets are competitive. Mortgage markets are decentralized and so rates are determined through a search and negotiation process.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Financial institutions,
Financial services,
Interest rates
JEL Code(s):
G,
G2,
L,
L1
Bank Leverage Regulation and Macroeconomic Dynamics
Staff Working Paper 2011-32
Ian Christensen,
Césaire Meh,
Kevin Moran
This paper assesses the merits of countercyclical bank balance sheet regulation for the stabilization of financial and economic cycles and examines its interaction with monetary policy.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Economic models,
Financial institutions,
Financial system regulation and policies,
Monetary policy framework,
Monetary policy transmission
JEL Code(s):
E,
E4,
E44,
E5,
E52,
G,
G2,
G21
Do Low Interest Rates Sow the Seeds of Financial Crises?
Staff Working Paper 2011-31
Simona Cociuba,
Malik Shukayev,
Alexander Ueberfeldt
A view advanced in the aftermath of the late-2000s financial crisis is that lower than optimal interest rates lead to excessive risk taking by financial intermediaries.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Financial system regulation and policies,
Monetary policy transmission
JEL Code(s):
D,
D5,
D53,
E,
E4,
E44,
E5,
E52,
G,
G2,
G28
Trading Dynamics with Adverse Selection and Search: Market Freeze, Intervention and Recovery
Staff Working Paper 2011-30
Jonathan Chiu,
Thorsten Koeppl
We study the trading dynamics in an asset market where the quality of assets is private information of the owner and finding a counterparty takes time. When trading of a financial asset ceases in equilibrium as a response to an adverse shock to asset quality, a large player can resurrect the market by buying up lemons which involves assuming financial losses.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Financial markets,
Financial stability
JEL Code(s):
E,
E6,
G,
G1
Financial Frictions, Financial Shocks and Labour Market Fluctuations in Canada
Staff Discussion Paper 2011-10
Yahong Zhang
What are the effects of financial market imperfections on unemployment and vacancies in Canada? The author estimates the model of Zhang (2011) – a standard monetary dynamic stochastic general-equilibrium model augmented with explicit financial and labour market frictions – with Canadian data for the period 1984Q2–2010Q4, and uses it to examine the importance of financial shocks on labour market fluctuations in Canada.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff discussion papers
Topic(s):
Economic models,
Financial markets,
Labour markets
JEL Code(s):
E,
E3,
E32,
E4,
E44,
J,
J6