The Bank of Canada's Business Outlook Survey: An Assessment Staff Working Paper 2004-15 Monica Martin, Cristiano Papile Since the autumn of 1997, the Bank of Canada's regional offices (located in Halifax, Montréal, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver) have conducted consultations with businesses across Canada on a quarterly basis. These consultations are now referred to as the Business Outlook Survey (BOS). Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Domestic demand and components JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E6, E66
Why Does Private Consumption Rise After a Government Spending Shock? Staff Working Paper 2003-43 Hafedh Bouakez, Nooman Rebei Recent empirical evidence suggests that private consumption is crowded-in by government spending. This outcome violates existing macroeconomic theory, according to which the negative wealth effect brought about by a rise in public expenditure should decrease consumption. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Economic models, Fiscal policy JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E6, E62
The Macroeconomic Effects of Military Buildups in a New Neoclassical Synthesis Framework Staff Working Paper 2003-12 Alain Paquet, Louis Phaneuf, Nooman Rebei The authors study the macroeconomic consequences of large military buildups using a New Neoclassical Synthesis (NNS) approach that combines nominal rigidities within imperfectly competitive goods and labour markets. They show that the predictions of the NNS framework generally are consistent with the sign, timing, and magnitude of how hours worked, after-tax real wages, and output actually respond to an upsurge in military purchases. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Economic models, Fiscal policy JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E6, E62, H, H2
Alternative Public Spending Rules and Output Volatility Staff Working Paper 2002-37 Jean-Paul Lam, William Scarth One of the central lessons learned from the Great Depression was that adjusting government spending each year to balance the budget increases the volatility of output. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Fiscal policy, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58, E6, E62
Entrepreneurial Risk, Credit Constraints, and the Corporate Income Tax: A Quantitative Exploration Staff Working Paper 2002-21 Césaire Meh This paper describes the positive effect that corporate income tax has on capital formation in the presence of liquidity constraints and uninsurable risk. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Fiscal policy JEL Code(s): D, D3, D31, E, E6, E62, H, H2, H20, H23
Entrepreneurship, Inequality, and Taxation Staff Working Paper 2002-14 Césaire Meh This paper confirms the conjecture that the evaluation of tax policy leads to very different conclusions once the role of entrepreneurs is considered. Contrary to previous literature, the author finds that switching from a progressive to a proportional income tax system has a negligible effect on wealth inequality in the United States. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Fiscal policy JEL Code(s): D, D3, D31, E, E6, E62, H, H2, H20, H23
How Rigid Are Nominal-Wage Rates? Staff Working Paper 2001-8 Allan Crawford This study examines the effect of nominal-wage rigidities on wage growth in Canada using a hazard model and micro data for union contracts. The hazard model is specified in a way that allows considerable flexibility in the shape of the estimated notional wage-change distribution. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation targets, Labour markets JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E5, E52, E6, E61
Downward Nominal-Wage Rigidity: Micro Evidence from Tobit Models Staff Working Paper 2001-7 Allan Crawford, Geoff Wright This paper uses Tobit models and data for union contracts to examine the extent of downward nominal-wage rigidity in Canada. To be consistent with important stylized facts, the models allow the variance of the notional wage-change distribution to be time-varying and test for menu-cost effects. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation targets, Labour markets JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E5, E52, E6, E61
The Zero Bound on Nominal Interest Rates: How Important Is It? Staff Working Paper 2001-6 David Amirault, Brian O'Reilly This paper surveys the literature on the zero bound on the nominal interest rate. It addresses questions ranging from the conditions under which the zero bound on the nominal interest rate might occur to policy options to avoid or use to exit from such a situation. We discuss literature that examines historical and country evidence, and literature that uses models to generate evidence on this question. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credibility, Inflation targets, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E5, E52, E58, E6, E61
The Elements of the Global Network for Large-Value Funds Transfers Staff Working Paper 2001-1 James Dingle The author describes the various elements of the global payment network for large-value funds transfers (G-LVTN) in order to provide a convenient reference document intended for readers in the academic, legal, and financial communities. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E40, E6, E61