Do Firms’ Sales Expectations Hit the Mark? Evidence from the Business Leaders’ Pulse Staff discussion paper 2025-15 Owen Gaboury, Farrukh Suvankulov, Mathieu Utting We analyze Canadian data from the Bank of Canada’s Business Leaders’ Pulse, examining firms’ sales growth expectations. We find that expected growth predicts outcomes, uncertainty influences forecast errors and revisions, and firms with weak past performance anticipate and experience weaker future growth. These results highlight the survey’s value for understanding business expectations. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): C, C8, C83, D, D2, D22 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Real economy and forecasting
Examining the Links Between Firm Performance and Insolvency Staff discussion paper 2025-10 Dylan Hogg, Hossein Hosseini Jebeli Assessing insolvency dynamics is essential for evaluating the financial health of non-financial corporations and mitigating macroeconomic and financial stability risks. This study leverages a newly created Statistics Canada dataset linking insolvency records with firm-level financial data to develop a robust framework for monitoring insolvency risk Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, G, G3, G33, L, L2, L20 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Household and business credit, Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods
Markups, Pass-Through, and Firm Heterogeneity with Sequentially Mixed Search Staff working paper 2025-7 Alex Chernoff, Allen Head, Beverly Lapham Market power and pass-through of cost and demand shocks are studied in a market with free entry of heterogeneous firms and consumer mixed search. Equilibrium prices and markups are driven by variation in the elasticity of demand across firms. Improved conditions for buyers can either raise or lower market power. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): D, D2, D21, D4, D43, E, E3, E31, L, L1, L11 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures
Bouncing Back: How Mothballing Curbs Prices Staff working paper 2024-51 Thibaut Duprey, Artur Kotlicki, Daniel E. Rigobon, Philip Schnattinger We investigate the macroeconomic impacts of mothballed businesses—those that closed temporarily—on sectoral equilibrium prices after a negative demand shock. Our results suggest that pandemic fiscal support for temporary closures may have eased inflationary pressures. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C5, C55, C8, C81, D, D2, D22, E, E3, E32 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Real economy and forecasting
The (Mis)Allocation of Corporate News Staff working paper 2024-47 Xing Guo, Alistair Macaulay, Wenting Song We study how the distribution of information supply by the news media affects the macroeconomy. We find that media coverage focuses particularly on the largest firms, and that firms’ equity financing and investment increase after media coverage. But these equity and investment responses are largest among small, rarely covered firms. Our quantitative studies highlight that the aggregate effects of media coverage depend crucially on how that coverage is allocated. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, D6, D61, L, L1, L11, L2, L20 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Financial system, Financial institutions and intermediation, Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Economic models
An Anatomy of Firms’ Political Speech Staff working paper 2024-37 Pablo Ottonello, Wenting Song, Sebastian Sotelo We study the distribution of political speech across U.S. firms. We develop a measure of political engagement based on firms’ communications (earning calls, regulatory filings, and social media) by training a large language model to identify statements that contain political opinions. Using these data, we document five facts about firms’ political engagement. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, D6, D63, G, G4, G41, L, L1, L11, L2, L20 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market structure
Total factor productivity growth projection for Canada: A sectoral approach Staff analytical note 2024-12 Dany Brouillette, Tessa Devakos, Raven Wheesk We propose a tool that decomposes TFP growth into sectoral contributions. The analysis incorporates three structural factors—digitalization, aging and climate change policies—and measures their contributions. Overall, we expect that aggregate TFP growth will slow down in the 2020s below both its historical average and the average from the 2010s. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): D, D2, D24, J, J1, J11, O, O3, O33, Q, Q5, Q54 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Climate change, Demographics and labour supply, Digitalization and productivity
Pricing behaviour and inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from consumer prices microdata Staff analytical note 2024-6 Olga Bilyk, Mikael Khan, Olena Kostyshyna Using the microdata underlying the Canadian consumer price index, we study how often and by how much firms changed their prices during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that the surge in inflation was mainly associated with retailers raising prices much more often than before. We also find that more recently, corporate price-setting behaviour appears to be approaching pre-pandemic norms. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, E, E3, E31, L, L1, L11 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Real economy and forecasting
COVID-19 Hasn’t Killed Merchant Acceptance of Cash: Results from the 2023 Merchant Acceptance Survey Staff discussion paper 2024-2 Angelika Welte, Katrina Talavera, Liang Wang, Joy Wu The Bank of Canada’s Merchant Acceptance Survey finds that 96% of small and medium-sized businesses in Canada accepted cash in 2023. Acceptance of debit and credit cards has increased to 89%, and acceptance of digital payments has also increased. However, Canada is far from being a cashless society. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): C, C8, D, D2, D22, E, E4, L, L2 Research Theme(s): Money and payments, Cash and bank notes, Retail payments
Regulation, Emissions and Productivity: Evidence from China’s Eleventh Five-Year Plan Staff working paper 2024-7 Brantly Callaway, Tong Li, Joel Rodrigue, Yuya Sasaki, Yong Tan We study the degree to which China’s 11th Five-Year Plan softens trade-offs between emissions and output. Our model suggests efficient regulation could have further increased aggregate productivity by 3.5% and output by 4.7% without any increase in aggregate emissions. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C2, C21, D, D2, D24, Q, Q5, Q53 Research Theme(s): Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Climate change, Digitalization and productivity