Sterilized Intervention in Emerging-Market Economies: Trends, Costs, and Risks Staff Discussion Paper 2008-4 Robert Lavigne The author examines recent trends in sterilized intervention among emerging-market economies, to determine the size and extent of this policy in relation to earlier periods of heavy reserve accumulation. He then analyzes whether the domestic costs and risks of substantial and prolonged sterilization are beginning to manifest themselves. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Exchange rate regimes, Financial stability, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, F, F3, F31, O, O2, O24
Understanding Productivity: A Review of Recent Technical Research Staff Discussion Paper 2008-3 Richard Dion, Robert Fay The authors provide an extensive review of the rapidly expanding research on productivity, both at the macro and micro levels. They focus primarily on papers written about Canada, but also draw on selected studies from other countries, especially the United States, where such work sheds important light on particular aspects of productivity growth. The authors […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Productivity JEL Code(s): D, D2, D24, O, O3, O31, O4, O40, O47
The Carry Trade, Portfolio Diversification, and the Adjustment of the Japanese Yen Staff Discussion Paper 2008-2 Corinne Luu In this paper, the author considers whether fundamentals or other factors can explain the yen's ongoing weakness. In particular, the importance of capital outflows due to the carry trade and longer-term portfolio investment outflows, which may be delaying the adjustment of the yen, are investigated. A simple portfolio model is developed, composed of a speculative […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Exchange rates, International topics, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): F, F2, F21, F3, F31, F32, G, G1, G11
An Overview of Carbon Markets and Emissions Trading: Lessons for Canada Staff Discussion Paper 2008-1 Michael R. King The author provides an overview of carbon markets and explains how emissions trading can be important in encouraging the reduction of CO2 emissions in an efficient manner. He describes the key steps in establishing a cap-and-trade system, and reviews the European experiences with emissions trading. He highlights the lessons learned from the EU Emissions Trading […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): International topics, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): D, D4, N, N5, N50, Q, Q2, Q21
Tracking Canadian Trend Productivity: A Dynamic Factor Model with Markov Switching Staff Discussion Paper 2007-12 Michael Dolega The author attempts to track Canadian labour productivity over the past four decades using a multivariate dynamic factor model that, in addition to the labour productivity series, includes aggregate compensation and consumption information. Productivity is assumed to switch between two regimes (the high-growth state and the low-growth state) with different trend growth rates according to […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Productivity JEL Code(s): C, C3, C32, O, O4, O5, O51
Price-Level Targeting and Stabilization Policy: A Review Staff Discussion Paper 2007-11 Steve Ambler The author surveys recent articles on the costs and benefits of price-level targeting versus inflation targeting, focusing on the benefits and costs of price-level targeting as a tool for stabilization policy. He reviews papers that examine how price-level targeting affects the short-run trade-off between output and inflation variability by influencing expectations of future inflation. The […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E32, E5, E52
The Direct Effect of China on Canadian Consumer Prices: An Empirical Assessment Staff Discussion Paper 2007-10 Louis Morel The author investigates the direct effect of Chinese imported goods on consumer prices in Canada. On average, over the 2001–06 period, the direct effect of consumer goods imported from China is estimated to have reduced the inflation rate by about 0.1 percentage points per year. This disinflationary effect is due to two causes: first, the […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31
Hedge Funds and Financial Stability: The State of the Debate Staff Discussion Paper 2007-9 Michael R. King, Philipp Maier The authors review the state of the debate on hedge funds and the potential threat that hedge funds pose to financial stability. The collapse of a hedge fund or a group of hedge funds might pose a systemic risk directly by damaging systematically important financial institutions, or indirectly by increasing market volatility and generating a […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): G, G1, G15, G18, G2
Price-Level Targeting Staff Discussion Paper 2007-8 Agathe Côté In November 2006, the Bank of Canada announced its intention to lead a concerted research program over the next few years on the type of monetary policy framework that would best contribute to the economic well-being of Canadians in the decades ahead. The research will focus on two broad questions: whether economic welfare might be […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58
A Note on Contestability in the Canadian Banking Industry Staff Discussion Paper 2007-7 Jason Allen, Ying Liu The authors examine the degree of contestability in the Canadian banking system using the H-statistic proposed by Panzar and Rosse (1987) and modified by Bikker, Spierdijk, and Finnie (2006). A modification is necessary because the standard approach of controlling for size using total assets leads to an upward bias in the H-statistic. The authors propose […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Financial institutions JEL Code(s): G, G2, G21, L, L1, L11