The level of potential output plays a central role in the Bank of Canada's new Quarterly Projection Model (QPM). This report describes a general method to measure potential output, as well as its implementation in the QPM system. The report begins with a short history of the measurement of potential output. Building on this experience, a hybrid method of measuring potential output is developed that combines economic structure with a time-series filter. The resulting filter, known as the extended multivariate (EMV) filter, exploits theoretical relationships that are embodied in QPM in an effort to identify demand-side and supply-side influences on output. These various relationships are combined in a filter that imposes a smoothness property on the dynamics of potential output. The report describes the general structure of the EMV filter, the various economic relationships that it uses, and the weights applied to these different pieces of information. It concludes with an evaluation of the EMV filter and some suggestions for future improvements.

In this report, we describe methods for solving economic models when expectations are presumed to have at least some element of consistency with the predictions of the model itself. We present analytical results that establish the convergence properties of alternative solution procedures for linear models with unique solutions. We discuss briefly the extension of our convergence results to applications with non-linear models, but the strong analytical conclusions for linear systems do not necessarily carry over to non-linear systems. We illustrate the analytical discussion and provide some evidence on comparative solution times and on the robustness of the procedures, using simulations of a simple, linear model of a hypothetical economy and of two much larger, non-linear models of the Canadian economy developed at the Bank of Canada.

This paper outlines the key features of the production version of the quarterly projection model (QPM), which is a forward-looking open-economy gap model, calibrated to represent the Indian case, for generating forecasts and risk assessment as well as conducting policy analysis. QPM incorporates several India-specific features like the importance of the agricultural sector and food prices in the inflation process; features of monetary policy transmission and implications of an endogenous credibility process for monetary policy formulation. The paper also describes key properties and historical decompositions of some important macroeconomic variables.

In recent years the Bank of Canada has made important changes in the way it conducts monetary policy. In particular, the bank has adopted explicit inflation targets and introduced significant changes to its operational framework designed to increase transparency and reduce market uncertainty. This paper examines the key issues associated with the recent changes in the Bank of Canada’s monetary policy framework and analyzes various indicators of central bank credibility.

The Bank of Canada's new Quarterly Projection Model (QPM) combines the short-term dynamic properties necessary to support regular economic projections with the consistent behavioural structure necessary for policy analysis. This volume reviews the history of macro modelling at the Bank and how that history has conditioned the nature of QPM and the methodology used in its construction. It then describes the model, focusing on the types of shocks it was designed to handle and the key elements of its dynamic structure. Two important features are noted: forward-looking expectations and endogenous policy rules. Also discussed is the methodology used to calibrate the model to reflect Canadian data, including examples of how the calibration was performed for QPM. Finally, the volume illustrates the properties of QPM in dynamic simulation by describing the results of numerous shocks to the model.

Macroeconomic Modelling has undergone radical changes in the last few years. There has been considerable innovation in developing robust solution techniques for the new breed of increasingly complex models. Similarly there has been a growing consensus on their long run and dynamic properties, as well as much development on existing themes such as modelling expectations and policy rules. This edited volume focuses on those areas which have undergone the most significant and imaginative developments and brings together the very best of modelling practice. We include specific sections on (I) Solving Large Macroeconomic Models, (II) Rational Expectations and Learning Approaches, (III) Macro Dynamics, and (IV) Long Run and Closures. All of the contributions offer new research whilst putting their developments firmly in context and as such will influence much future research in the area. It will be an invaluable text for those in policy institutions as well as academics and advanced students in the fields of economics, mathematics, business and government. Our contributors include those working in central banks, the IMF, European Commission and established academics.

This collection, written by highly-placed practitioners and academic economists, provides a picture of how economic modellers and policy makers interact. The book provides international case studies of particular interactions between models and policy making, and argues that the flow of information is two-way.