June 30, 2023 Quarterly Research Update – 2023 Q2 This newsletter features the latest research publications by Bank of Canada economists including external publications and working papers published on the Bank of Canada’s website. Content Type(s): Staff research, Research newsletters
Global Demand and Supply Sentiment: Evidence from Earnings Calls Staff Working Paper 2023-37 Temel Taskin, Franz Ulrich Ruch This paper quantifies global demand, supply and uncertainty shocks and compares two major global recessions: the 2008–09 Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. We use two alternate approaches to decompose economic shocks: text mining techniques on earnings calls transcripts and a structural Bayesian vector autoregression model. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Econometric and statistical methods, Inflation and prices, International topics JEL Code(s): C, C1, C11, C3, C32, E, E3, E32, G, G1, G10
What Can Earnings Calls Tell Us About the Output Gap and Inflation in Canada? Staff Discussion Paper 2023-13 Marc-André Gosselin, Temel Taskin We construct new indicators of demand and supply for the Canadian economy by using natural language processing techniques to analyze earnings calls of publicly listed firms. Our results indicate that the new indicators could help central banks identify inflationary pressures in real time. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Domestic demand and components, Econometric and statistical methods, Inflation and prices, Potential output JEL Code(s): C, C1, C3, E, E3, E5
Estimating the Slope of the Demand Function at Auctions for Government of Canada Bonds Staff Discussion Paper 2023-12 Bo Young Chang We use bid data from Government of Canada bond auctions between 1999 and 2021 to gauge the yield sensitivity of these bonds to the issuance amount. Our new metric estimates the demand function of the bidders at each auction and offers insights into the relationship between supply and yield of government bonds. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Debt management, Interest rates JEL Code(s): D, D4, D44, G, G1, G12
Why Consumers Disagree About Future Inflation Staff Discussion Paper 2023-11 Naveen Rai, Patrick Sabourin Since 2022, consumer inflation expectations have shifted, with a significant increase in those expecting high inflation in the coming year and a surge in those expecting deflation further in the future. Using data from the Canadian Survey of Consumer Expectations, this paper seeks to assess the factors that influence people to expect high inflation, moderate inflation or deflation. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): C, C8, C83, D, D8, D84, E, E3, E31
Markups and inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic Staff Analytical Note 2023-8 Olga Bilyk, Timothy Grieder, Mikael Khan We find that prices and costs for consumer-oriented firms moved roughly one-for-one during the COVID-19 pandemic. This means firms fully passed rising costs through to the prices they charged. However, our results are suggestive, given data limitations and the uncertainty associated with estimating markups. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Firm dynamics, Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): D, D2, D4, E, E2, E3, L, L1
What People Believe About Monetary Finance and What We Can(’t) Do About It: Evidence from a Large-Scale, Multi-Country Survey Experiment Staff Working Paper 2023-36 Cars Hommes, Julien Pinter, Isabelle Salle We conduct a large-scale survey to shed light on what people believe about public finance. An experiment demonstrates that central bank communication can persistently shift views on monetary financing. It further suggests that views on monetary financing impact support for fiscal discipline. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Fiscal policy, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): C, C8, C83, E, E5, E58, E6, E60, E62, E7, E70, G, G5, G53, H, H3, H31
Monetary Policy Transmission, Bank Market Power, and Wholesale Funding Reliance Staff Working Paper 2023-35 Amina Enkhbold I study how banking market concentration and reliance on wholesale funding affect monetary policy transmission to mortgage rates. I find that this transmission is imperfect and dampens the response of consumption, output, and housing prices. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Financial institutions, Inflation targets, Monetary policy transmission, Wholesale funding JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, E5, E52, G, G2, G21
Unpacking Moving: A Quantitative Spatial Equilibrium Model with Wealth Staff Working Paper 2023-34 Elisa Giannone, Qi Li, Nuno Paixão, Xinle Pang We propose a model to understand low observed migration rates by considering the interaction between location and wealth decisions. We look at different policies and find that temporary moving vouchers only slightly increase welfare, while lower housing regulations can decrease the welfare gap by lowering house prices nationwide. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Housing, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): G, G5, G51, R, R1, R12, R13, R2, R3, R31, R5, R52
Privacy-Preserving Post-Quantum Credentials for Digital Payments Staff Working Paper 2023-33 Raza Ali Kazmi, Duc-Phong Le, Cyrus Minwalla Digital payments and decentralized systems enable the creation of new financial products and services for users. One core challenge in digital payments is the need to protect users from fraud and abuse while retaining privacy in individual transactions. We propose a pseudonymous credential scheme for use in payment systems to tackle this problem. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, G, G2, G21, O, O3, O31