Maturity Composition and the Demand for Government Debt Staff working paper 2020-29 Jason Allen, Jakub Kastl, Milena Wittwer The main objectives of debt management are to raise stable and low-cost funding to meet the government’s financial needs and to maintain a well-functioning market for government securities. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C1, C14, D, D4, D44, E, E5, E58, G, G1, G12 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Funds management, Market functioning, Financial system, Financial institutions and intermediation, Models and tools, Economic models
Cash and COVID-19: The impact of the pandemic on demand for and use of cash Staff discussion paper 2020-6 Heng Chen, Walter Engert, Kim Huynh, Gradon Nicholls, Mitchell Nicholson, Julia Zhu Consumer spending declined significantly during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This negative shock likely reduced spending across all methods of payment (cash, debit, credit, etc.). The mix of payment methods consumers use could also be affected. We study how the pandemic has influenced the demand for and use of cash. We also offer insights into the use of other payment methods, such as debit and credit cards. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, C9, E, E4, O, O5, O54 Research Theme(s): Money and payments, Cash and bank notes, Retail payments
CBDC adoption and usage: some insights from field and laboratory experiments Staff analytical note 2020-12 Janet Hua Jiang This note discusses insights from historical launches of new payment methods and related laboratory experiments on the potential adoption and use of a central bank digital currency in the Canadian context. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): C, C9, E, E4, E5, E58 Research Theme(s): Money and payments, Digital assets and fintech, Retail payments
Classical Decomposition of Markowitz Portfolio Selection Staff working paper 2020-21 Christopher Demone, Olivia Di Matteo, Barbara Collignon In this study, we enhance Markowitz portfolio selection with graph theory for the analysis of two portfolios composed of either EU or US assets. Using a threshold-based decomposition of their respective covariance matrices, we perturb the level of risk in each portfolio and build the corresponding sets of graphs. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C0, C02 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods
The Market for Acquiring Card Payments from Small and Medium-Sized Canadian Merchants Staff discussion paper 2020-5 Angelika Welte, Jozsef Molnar This note uses industry data and a unique dataset of small and medium-sized merchants to provide insights into the acquirer-merchant market in Canada. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): C, C2, D, D2, E, E4, E42 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market structure, Money and payments, Payment and financial market infrastructures, Retail payments
Household indebtedness risks in the wake of COVID‑19 Staff analytical note 2020-8 Olga Bilyk, Anson T. Y. Ho, Mikael Khan, Geneviève Vallée COVID-19 presents challenges for indebted households. We assess these by drawing parallels between pandemics and natural disasters. Taking into account the financial health of the household sector when the pandemic began, we run model simulations to illustrate how payment deferrals and the labour market recovery will affect mortgage defaults. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): C, C2, C21, D, D1, D12, D14, E, E2, E24, E27, E6, E62, G, G2, G21, G28, R, R2 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Household and business credit, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting
Canadian Financial Stress and Macroeconomic Conditions Staff discussion paper 2020-4 Thibaut Duprey Severe disruptions in the financial markets, as observed during the 2008 global financial crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic, can impair the stability of the entire financial system and worsen macroeconomic downturns. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): C, C3, C32, E, E4, E44, G, G0, G01 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting
Endogenous Time Variation in Vector Autoregressions Staff working paper 2020-16 Danilo Leiva-Leon, Luis Uzeda We introduce a new class of time-varying parameter vector autoregressions (TVP-VARs) where the identified structural innovations are allowed to influence — contemporaneously and with a lag — the dynamics of the intercept and autoregressive coefficients in these models. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C1, C11, C3, C32, E, E3, E31, E5, E52 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Economic models, Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Monetary policy framework and transmission
Demand for Payment Services and Consumer Welfare: The Introduction of a Central Bank Digital Currency Staff working paper 2020-7 Kim Huynh, Jozsef Molnar, Oleksandr Shcherbakov, Qinghui Yu Using a two-stage model, we study the determinants of Canadian consumers’ choices of payment method at the point of sale. We estimate consumer preferences and adoption costs for various combinations of payment methods. We analyze how introducing a central bank digital currency would affect the market equilibrium. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C5, C51, E, E4, E42, L, L1, L14, L5, L52 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Economic models, Money and payments, Digital assets and fintech, Retail payments
IMPACT: The Bank of Canada’s International Model for Projecting Activity Technical report No. 116 Patrick Blagrave, Claudia Godbout, Justin-Damien Guénette, René Lalonde, Nikita Perevalov We present the structure and features of the International Model for Projecting Activity (IMPACT), a global semi-structural model used to conduct projections and policy analysis at the Bank of Canada. Major blocks of the model are developed based on the rational error correction framework of Kozicki and Tinsley (1999), which allows the model to strike a balance between theoretical structure and empirical performance. Content Type(s): Staff research, Technical reports JEL Code(s): C, C6, C68, E, E2, E27, E3, E37, F, F0, F01, F3, F32, F4, F47 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, International trade, finance and competitiveness