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
August 18, 2011 Bank Balance Sheets, Deleveraging and the Transmission Mechanism Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2011 Césaire Meh The author investigates the influence of bank capital on economic activity, using a macroeconomic model that incorporates an explicit role for financial intermediation. The analysis focuses on the role of a “bank-capital channel” in propagating and amplifying monetary policy actions and other shocks. The question of whether weaker bank balance sheets make the economy more vulnerable to adverse shocks is examined, together with the impact of initiatives, such as countercyclical capital buffers, on the transmission of monetary policy and other shocks to the real economy. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Economic models, Financial institutions, Financial system regulation and policies, Monetary policy transmission
Inventories, Markups and Real Rigidities in Sticky Price Models of the Canadian Economy Staff Working Paper 2011-9 Oleksiy Kryvtsov, Virgiliu Midrigan Recent New Keynesian models of macroeconomy view nominal cost rigidities, rather than nominal price rigidities, as the key feature that accounts for the observed persistence in output and inflation. Kryvtsov and Midrigan (2010a,b) reassess these conclusions by combining a theory based on nominal rigidities and storable goods with direct evidence on inventories for the U.S. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, F, F1, F12
February 17, 2011 Competition in the Canadian Mortgage Market Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2010-2011 Jason Allen This article begins with a brief examination of the Canadian mortgage market, focusing on the market’s evolution following changes to the Bank Act in 1992, which allowed chartered banks to enter the trust business, and the subsequent entrance of virtual banks and mortgage brokers. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Interest rates, Market structure and pricing, Monetary policy transmission
November 18, 2010 Financial Stress, Monetary Policy, and Economic Activity Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2010 Fuchun Li, Pierre St-Amant The recent global crisis was characterized by a remarkable intensity in the negative feedback process between financial sector developments and the real economy. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Economic models, Monetary policy transmission
Has the Inclusion of Forward-Looking Statements in Monetary Policy Communications Made the Bank of Canada More Transparent? Staff Discussion Paper 2010-15 Christine Fay, Toni Gravelle To investigate the extent to which the transparency of the Bank of Canada's monetary policy has improved, the authors examine empirically – over the period 30 October 2000 to 31 May 2007 – the reaction of Canadian financial markets to official Bank communications, and in particular their reaction to the recent inclusion of forward-looking policy-rate guidance in these communications. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Interest rates, Monetary policy communications, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58
Evaluating the Effect of the Bank of Canada's Conditional Commitment Policy Staff Discussion Paper 2010-11 Zhongfang He The author evaluates the effect of the Bank of Canada's conditional commitment regarding the target overnight rate on longer-term market interest rates by taking into account the relationship between interest rates, inflation, and unemployment rates. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Interest rates, Monetary policy implementation, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E4, E5, E6
Inventories, Stockouts, and ToTEM Staff Discussion Paper 2010-8 Oleksiy Kryvtsov, Yang Zhang Inventory investment is an important component of the Canadian business cycle. Despite its small average size – less than 1 per cent of output – it exhibits volatile procyclical fluctuations, accounting for almost one-third of output variance. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E32
Real and Nominal Frictions within the Firm: How Lumpy Investment Matters for Price Adjustment Staff Working Paper 2009-36 Michael K. Johnston Real rigidities are an important feature of modern sticky price models and are policy-relevant because of their welfare consequences, but cannot be structurally identified from time series. I evaluate the plausibility of capital specificity as a source of real rigidities using a two-dimensional generalized (s,S) model calibrated to micro evidence. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E1, E12, E2, E22, E3, E31