Fiscal policy

• Partial Identification of Heteroskedastic Structural Vector Autoregressions: Theory and Bayesian Inference

  Staff Working Paper 2025-14 Helmut Lütkepohl, Fei Shang, Luis Uzeda, Tomasz Woźniak

  We consider structural vector autoregressions that are identified through stochastic volatility. Our analysis focuses on whether a particular structural shock can be identified through heteroskedasticity without imposing any sign or exclusion restrictions.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Fiscal policy JEL Code(s): C, C1, C11, C12, C3, C32, E, E6, E62

• Estimating the impacts on GDP of natural disasters in Canada

  Staff Analytical Note 2025-5 Tatjana Dahlhaus, Thibaut Duprey, Craig Johnston

  Extreme weather events contribute to increased volatility in both economic activity and prices, interfering with the assessment of the true underlying trends of the economy. With this in mind, we conduct a timely assessment of the impact of natural disasters on Canadian gross domestic product (GDP).

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Climate change, Domestic demand and components, Econometric and statistical methods, Fiscal policy, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): B, B2, B23, C, C1, C13, C2, C23, E, E1, E17, E3, E37, E6, E62, H, H6

• Breaking Down the US Employment Multiplier Using Micro­-Level Data

  Staff Working Paper 2025-8 Edoardo Briganti, Holt Dwyer, Ricardo Duque Gabriel, Victor Sellemi

  We construct a new dataset of unanticipated contracts and examine their effects on employment growth. We find positive, significant and persistent effects on firms with fewer than 150 employees and estimate a cost-per­job that is an order of magnitude lower than previous estimates.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Fiscal policy JEL Code(s): E, E6, E62

• Bouncing Back: How Mothballing Curbs Prices

  Staff Working Paper 2024-51 Thibaut Duprey, Artur Kotlicki, Daniel E. Rigobon, Philip Schnattinger

  We investigate the macroeconomic impacts of mothballed businesses—those that closed temporarily—on sectoral equilibrium prices after a negative demand shock. Our results suggest that pandemic fiscal support for temporary closures may have eased inflationary pressures.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Firm dynamics, Fiscal policy, Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): C, C5, C55, C8, C81, D, D2, D22, E, E3, E32

• 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

• 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 Research Topic(s): Economic models, Fiscal policy, Housing, Labour markets JEL Code(s): D, D1, D11, D12, D14, E, E2, E21

• 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 Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Economic models, Fiscal policy, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E4, E44, E6, E62, G, G5, G51

• Immigration and Provision of Public Goods: Evidence at the Local Level in the U.S.

  Staff Working Paper 2023-57 Anna Maria Mayda, Mine Z. Senses, Walter Steingress

  Using U.S. county-level data from 1990 to 2010, we study the causal impact of immigration on the provision of local public goods. We uncover substantial heterogeneity across immigrants with different skills and immigrants of different generations, which leads to unequal fiscal effects across U.S. counties.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Fiscal policy, International topics, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): F, F2, F22, H, H4, H41, H7, J, J6, J61, J68, R, R5

• International Portfolio Rebalancing and Fiscal Policy Spillovers

  Staff Working Paper 2023-56 Sami Alpanda, Uluc Aysun, Serdar Kabaca

  We evaluate, both empirically and theoretically, the spillover effects that debt-financed fiscal policy interventions of the United States have on other economies. We consider a two-country model with international portfolio rebalancing effects. We show that US fiscal expansions would increase global long-term rates and hinder economic activity in the rest of the world.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Economic models, Fiscal policy, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E6, E62, F, F4, F41, F44

• What People Believe About Monetary Finance and What We Can(’t) Do About It: Evidence from a Large-Scale, Multi-Country Survey Experiment

  Staff Working Paper 2023-36 Cars Hommes, Julien Pinter, Isabelle Salle

  We conduct a large-scale survey to shed light on what people believe about public finance. An experiment demonstrates that central bank communication can persistently shift views on monetary financing. It further suggests that views on monetary financing impact support for fiscal discipline.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Fiscal policy, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): C, C8, C83, E, E5, E58, E6, E60, E62, E7, E70, G, G5, G53, H, H3, H31