Assessing tariff pass-through to consumer prices in Canada: Lessons from 2018 Staff Analytical Note 2025-18 Alexander Lam US trade protectionism is making the economic outlook increasingly uncertain. To assess how consumer prices may respond to tariffs, we examine a tariff episode from 2018 using detailed microdata and the synthetic control method. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Inflation and prices, International topics, Recent economic and financial developments, Trade integration JEL Code(s): E, E3, E30, E31, F, F1, F10, F13, F14
Natural disasters and inflation in Canada Staff Analytical Note 2025-8 Thibaut Duprey, Victoria Fernandes How do storms, floods and wildfires affect consumer prices? In the short term, natural disasters can significantly increase volatility in Canada-wide inflation. Over the long term, natural disasters influence inflation in shelter prices, especially when provincial output is already weak relative to trend. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Climate change, Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, Q, Q5, Q54
Markups, Pass-Through, and Firm Heterogeneity with Sequentially Mixed Search Staff Working Paper 2025-7 Alex Chernoff, Allen Head, Beverly Lapham Market power and pass-through of cost and demand shocks are studied in a market with free entry of heterogeneous firms and consumer mixed search. Equilibrium prices and markups are driven by variation in the elasticity of demand across firms. Improved conditions for buyers can either raise or lower market power. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Service sector JEL Code(s): D, D2, D21, D4, D43, E, E3, E31, L, L1, L11
Anchored Inflation Expectations: What Recent Data Reveal Staff Working Paper 2025-5 Olena Kostyshyna, Isabelle Salle, Hung Truong We analyze micro-level data from the Canadian Survey of Consumer Expectations through the lens of a heterogeneous-expectations model to study how inflation expectations form over the business cycle. We provide new insights into how households form expectations, documenting that forecasting behaviours, attention and noise in beliefs vary across socio-demographic groups and correlate with views about monetary policy. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): D, D8, D84, E, E3, E31, E7, E70
Consumer Search, Productivity Heterogeneity, Prices, Markups, and Pass-through: Theory and Estimation Staff Working Paper 2024-50 Alex Chernoff, Allen Head, Beverly Lapham We develop and estimate a search model in which identical consumers trade with price-setting firms that differ in productivity. We use the estimated model to characterize the qualitative and quantitative differences in prices and markups across firms. We explore how individual firms respond to changes in cost and demand and how they pass these through to their prices and markup. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Service sector JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, L, L1, L16
Monetary Policy Transmission amid Demand Reallocations Staff Working Paper 2024-42 Julien Bengui, Lu Han, Gaelan MacKenzie We analyze the transmission of monetary policy during different phases of a sectoral demand reallocation episode when there are frictions to increasing production in a sector. Monetary policy is more effective in reducing inflation when a larger proportion of sectors are expanding or expect to expand in the near future. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Domestic demand and components, Inflation and prices, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E1, E12, E2, E24, E3, E31, E5, E52
From Micro to Macro Hysteresis: Long-Run Effects of Monetary Policy Staff Working Paper 2024-39 Felipe Alves, Giovanni L. Violante We explore the long-run effects of a monetary policy shock in a Heterogeneous Agent New Keynesian model built on the micro evidence that job losses lead to persistently lower individual earnings through a combination of skill decay and abandonment of the labour force. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Labour markets, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E24, E3, E31, E32, E5, E52, J, J2, J24, J6, J64
Does Unconventional Monetary and Fiscal Policy Contribute to the COVID Inflation Surge in the US? Staff Working Paper 2024-38 Jing Cynthia Wu, Yinxi Xie, Ji Zhang We assess whether unconventional monetary and fiscal policy implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. contribute to the 2021-2023 inflation surge through the lens of several different empirical methodologies and establish a null result. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Central bank research, Fiscal policy, Inflation and prices, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E5, E52, E6, E63
Household Food Inflation in Canada Staff Working Paper 2024-33 Olena Kostyshyna, Maude Ouellet We study food inflation rates for Canadian households during periods of low and high inflation from 2012Q4 to 2023Q4. Households experienced more varied inflation rates during the recent high inflation. Cumulative food inflation has been 2.2 percentage points higher for lower-income households than for highest-income households since the inflation surge. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E3, E30, E31, L, L8, L81
Price Discounts and Cheapflation During the Post-Pandemic Inflation Surge Staff Working Paper 2024-31 Alberto Cavallo, Oleksiy Kryvtsov We study how price variation within a store changes with inflation, and whether households exploit these changes to reduce the burden of inflation. We find that price changes from discounts mitigated the inflation burden while cheapflation exacerbated it. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Inflation: costs and benefits, Market structure and pricing JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E3, E30, E31, L, L8, L81