Saving after Retirement and Preferences for Residual Wealth Staff working paper 2024-21 Giulio Fella, Martin B. Holm, Thomas Michael Pugh We estimate a model of households in Norway with bequest motives, health-dependent utility, and uncertain longevity and health. Our estimates imply strong bequest motives for households both with and without offspring. We interpret this as suggestive evidence that utility from residual wealth represents forces beyond an altruistic bequest motive. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): D, D1, D11, D12, D14, E, E2, E21 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply
The Macroeconomic Implications of Coholding Staff working paper 2024-16 Michael Boutros, Andrej Mijakovic Coholder households simultaneously carry high-cost credit card debt and low-yield cash. We study the implications of this behavior for fiscal and monetary policy, finding that coholder households have smaller consumption responses in the short run but larger responses in the long run. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E4, E44, E6, E62, G, G5, G51 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Household and business credit, Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting
How changes in the share of constrained households affect the effectiveness of monetary policy Staff analytical note 2024-3 Felipe Alves, Sushant Acharya We measure how the change in the share of constrained households in Canada following the COVID-19 recession has impacted the effectiveness of monetary policy. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E4, E40, E5, E50 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Household and business credit, Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission
Perceived versus Calibrated Income Risks in Heterogeneous-Agent Consumption Models Staff working paper 2023-59 Tao Wang Perceived income risks reported in a survey of consumer expectations are more heterogeneous and, on average, lower than indirectly calibrated risks based on panel data. They prove to be one explanation for why a large fraction of households hold very little liquid savings and why accumulated wealth is widely unequal across households. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): D, D1, D14, E, E2, E21, E7, E71, G, G5, G51 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Real economy and forecasting
The Macroeconomic Effects of Debt Relief Policies During Recessions Staff working paper 2023-48 Soyoung Lee A large-scale reduction in mortgage principal can strengthen a recovery, support house prices and lower foreclosures. The nature of the intervention shapes its impact, which rests on how resources are redistributed across households. The availability of bankruptcy on unsecured debt changes the response to large-scale mortgage relief by reducing precautionary savings. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E3, E32, E6 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Household and business credit, Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Monetary policy tools and implementation, Real economy and forecasting
The Impact of Unemployment Insurance and Unsecured Credit on Business Cycles Staff working paper 2023-22 Michael Irwin This paper studies how unsecured consumer credit impacts the extent to which unemployment insurance (UI) policies smooth aggregate consumption fluctuations over the business cycle. Using a general equilibrium real business cycle model, I find that unsecured credit amplifies the extent to which UI smooths cyclical consumption fluctuations. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E24, E3, E32, E4, E44, E6, E62 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Household and business credit, Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting
The Canadian Neutral Rate of Interest through the Lens of an Overlapping-Generations Model Staff discussion paper 2023-5 Martin Kuncl, Dmitry Matveev We use a small open economy model with overlapping generations to evaluate secular dynamics of the neutral rate in Canada from 1980 to 2018. We find that changes in both foreign and domestic factors resulted in a protracted decline in the neutral rate. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E22, E4, E43, E5, E50, E52, E58, F, F4, F41 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply
Fiscal Stimulus and Skill Accumulation over the Life Cycle Staff working paper 2023-9 Laure Simon Using micro data from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey and Current Population Survey, I document that government spending shocks affect individuals differently over the life cycle. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): D, D1, D12, D15, E, E2, E21, E6, E62, J, J1, J11, J2, J24 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply
Gazing at r-star: A Hysteresis Perspective Staff working paper 2023-5 Paul Beaudry, Katya Kartashova, Césaire Meh Many explanations for the decline in real interest rates over the last 30 years point to the role that population aging or rising income inequality plays in increasing the long-run aggregate demand for assets. Notwithstanding the importance of such factors, the starting point of this paper is to show that the major change driving household asset demand over this period is instead an increased desire—for a given age and income level—to hold assets. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E3, E31, E4, E43, E5, E52, E58, E6, E62, G, G5, G51, H, H6 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Economic models, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Real economy and forecasting
Macroeconomic Disasters and Consumption Smoothing: International Evidence from Historical Data Staff working paper 2023-4 Lorenzo Pozzi, Barbara Sadaba Does consumption smoothing fundamentally decrease during macroeconomic disasters? This paper uses a large historical dataset (1870–2016) for 16 industrial economies to show that during macroeconomic disasters (e.g., wars, pandemics, depressions) aggregate consumption and income are significantly less decoupled than during normal times. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C2, C23, E, E2, E21 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Household and business credit, Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting