Canada's Exchange Rate Regime and North American Economic Integration: The Role of Risk-Sharing Mechanisms Staff Working Paper 1999-17 Zahir Antia, Ramdane Djoudad, Pierre St-Amant Our contribution in this paper is threefold. First, we survey the empirical literature on consumption smoothing mechanisms of regional economic shocks. Second, building on the work of Asdrubali et al. (1996), we present evidence on the role played by various smoothing mechanisms for specific economic shocks affecting Canadian provinces. Third, we assess whether smoothing mechanisms […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rate regimes, Exchange rates JEL Code(s): F, F3, F33, F36, G, G1, G15
Optimal Currency Areas: A Review of the Recent Literature Staff Working Paper 1999-16 Robert Lafrance, Pierre St-Amant This paper surveys the recent literature on optimal currency areas (OCAs). Topics that are covered include theoretical developments in the context of general-equilibrium models and empirical work on shocks asymmetry and adjustment mechanisms. Issues relating to the endogeneity of OCA criteria, the role of exchange rate flexibility in promoting greater macroeconomic stability, and the links […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rate regimes JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, F, F3, F33
Why Canada Needs a Flexible Exchange Rate Staff Working Paper 1999-12 John Murray This paper explores the arguments for and against a common currency for Canada and the United States and attempts to determine whether such an arrangement would offer any significant advantages for Canada compared with the present flexible exchange rate system. The paper first reviews the theoretical arguments advanced in the economics literature in support of fixed and flexible currency arrangements. A discussion of Canada's past experience with the two exchange rate systems follows, after which there is a survey of the empirical evidence published on Canada's current and prospective suitability for some form of fixed currency arrangement with the United States. The final section of the paper examines critically a number of concerns raised about the behaviour of the current flexible exchange rate system. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rates JEL Code(s): F, F3, F31
Real Effects of Collapsing Exchange Rate Regimes: An Application to Mexico Staff Working Paper 1999-10 Patrick Osakwe, Lawrence L. Schembri This paper examines the impact of a collapsing exchange rate regime on output in an open economy in which shocks to capital flows and exports predominate. A sticky-price rational expectations model is used to compare the variability of output under the collapsing regime to that under alternative fixed and flexible regimes. Output is found to […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rates JEL Code(s): F, F3, F31, F4, F41
The Exchange Rate Regime and Canada's Monetary Order Staff Working Paper 1999-7 David Laidler It is a mistake to debate the merits of alternative exchange rate regimes for Canada independently of other features of the monetary order. A coherent order requires a well-defined goal for monetary policy, one that the authorities are capable of achieving, and that anchors private sector expectations. For it to be liberal, the relevant authorities […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rates, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, F, F3, F31
An Intraday Analysis of the Effectiveness of Foreign Exchange Intervention Staff Working Paper 1999-4 Neil Beattie, Jean-François Fillion This paper assesses the effectiveness of Canada's official foreign exchange intervention in moderating intraday volatility of the Can$/US$ exchange rate, using a 2-1/2-year sample of 10-minute exchange rate data. The use of high frequency data (higher than daily frequency) should help in assessing the impact of intervention since the foreign exchange market is efficient and […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rates, Financial markets JEL Code(s): F, F3, F31, G, G1, G15
Fundamentals, Contagion and Currency Crises: An Empirical Analysis Staff Working Paper 1998-10 Mark Kruger, Patrick Osakwe, Jennifer Page This paper examines the determinants of currency crises in Latin America, Asia and Africa. It asks two basic questions: (a) Are currency crises linked to economic fundamentals? and; (b) Is there any evidence of a contagion effect after controlling for the potential effects of economic fundamentals? Using pooled annual data for 19 developing countries spanning […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rates JEL Code(s): F, F3
International Borrowing, Specialization and Unemployment in a Small, Open Economy Staff Working Paper 1998-2 Patrick Osakwe, Shouyong Shi Empirical evidence suggests that the unemployment rate and the export/GNP ratio are positively correlated with external debt across developing countries. This paper develops a dynamic model that provides an explanation for the aforementioned relationships. The central idea of our paper is that international borrowing affects unemployment and specialization patterns by unevenly changing the risk-sharing structure—across […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): International topics JEL Code(s): F, F3, J, J6
Reconsidering Cointegration in International Finance: Three Case Studies of Size Distortion in Finite Samples Staff Working Paper 1997-1 Marie-Josée Godbout, Simon van Norden This paper reconsiders several recently published but controversial results about the behaviour of exchange rates. In particular, it explores finite-sample problems in the application of cointegration tests and shows how these may have affected the conclusions of recent research. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C1, C15, C2, C22, C3, C32, F, F3, F31
L'endettement du Canada et ses effets sur les taux d'intérêt réels de long terme Staff Working Paper 1996-14 Jean-François Fillion This paper examines the effects that Canada's indebtedness has on Canadian real long-term interest rates, using the vector error-correction model (VECM). Our results show that there is a strongly cointegrated relationship between real interest rates in Canada, U.S. real interest rates, and Canadian public and external debt ratios. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Fiscal policy, Interest rates JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, F, F3, F30, H, H6, H60