Showing papers by "Government of Canada published in 2019"
TL;DR: Experiential-based knowledge such as that of the northern Indigenous peoples, acquired through practice and over generations, has been central to human adaptation and survival for millennia and combined with scientific knowledge will help to achieve better-informed and more timely and effective decision-making on wildlife health and conservation.
Abstract: Bridging Indigenous and scientific knowledge improves wildlife surveillance and fosters reconciliation The cry “Don't shoot the leaders!” is central to the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples across the Canadian North. For countless generations, northern Indigenous peoples have witnessed the annual caribou migrations, understanding their mechanisms and patterns. They know that if the caribou leading the migration are removed, the rest of the herd do not know where to migrate and will not return to the traditional harvesting grounds. A recent scientific study on the migratory behavior of hoofed animals also concludes that they learn from their conspecifics where and when to migrate (1). Experiential-based knowledge such as that of the northern Indigenous peoples, acquired through practice and over generations, has been central to human adaptation and survival for millennia. Combining this knowledge with scientific knowledge will help to achieve better-informed and more timely and effective decision-making on wildlife health and conservation.
80 citations
TL;DR: This paper developed a micro-founded general equilibrium model of payments to study the impact of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) on intermediation of private banks and found that if banks have market power in the deposit market, a CBDC can enhance competition, raising the deposit rate, expanding intermediation, and increasing output.
Abstract: This paper develops a micro-founded general equilibrium model of payments to study the impact of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) on intermediation of private banks. If banks have market power in the deposit market, a CBDC can enhance competition, raising the deposit rate, expanding intermediation, and increasing output. A calibration to the United States economy suggests that a CBDC can raise bank lending by 1.96% and output by 0.21%. These ``crowding-in'' effects remain robust, albeit with smaller magnitudes, after taking into account endogenous bank entry. We also assess the role of a non-interest-bearing CBDC as the use of cash declines.
29 citations
TL;DR: In the CanCHEC cohort, exposure to higher road density and proximity to major traffic roads was associated with increased mortality risk from cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, COPD, respiratory disease, and lung cancer, with unclear results for diabetes.
26 citations
TL;DR: This paper proposed a theory of foreign reserves as macro-prudential policy and showed that by accumulating international reserves, the government can achieve the constrained-efficient allocation of resources to the private sector.
Abstract: This paper proposes a theory of foreign reserves as macroprudential policy. We study an open-economy model of financial crises in which pecuniary externalities lead to overborrowing, and show that by accumulating international reserves, the government can achieve the constrained-efficient allocation.
20 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data set of the Peace Athabasca Delta, Alberta, was used to evaluate approaches to flooded vegetation mapping, and the primary objective was to identify how to ad...
Abstract: A synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data set of the Peace Athabasca Delta, Alberta, was used to evaluate approaches to flooded vegetation mapping. A primary objective was to identify how to ad...
18 citations
TL;DR: It is found that experiencing childhood emotional abuse is related to the presence of MI during adult military service, even after controlling for age and gender.
Abstract: Background: There is increasing evidence that moral injuries (MIs) may affect the mental health of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and veterans. Despite knowledge suggesting that MIs are relate...
17 citations
TL;DR: Biomonitoring equivalents (BEs) were derived based on US FDA's RDI as a tool for interpretation of population-level biomonitorsing data and may be used in screening and prioritization of health risk assessment of bismuth in the general population.
17 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used the physico-chemical characteristics and plant functional traits collected in 322 wetlands as indicators of wetland condition, including origin, life history, and habitat requirements.
17 citations
TL;DR: Prevention should firstly focus on raised awareness of hypertensive patients’ self-care management and health professionals should better comply to the guidelines of anti-hypertensive treatments.
Abstract: Background Uncontrolled high blood pressure (UBP) can lead to various cardiovascular complications causing an estimated nine million deaths per year worldwide. In Meknes, epidemiologic data on UBP are scarce, depriving programs from evidence-based information that would allow a better management of hypertension. Hence, we aimed to assess UBP prevalence in hypertensive patients treated in Meknes and identify UBP-associated risk factors. Methods Between November and December 2017, we conducted a cross-sectional study enrolling 922 hypertensive patients managed at Meknes's primary health care facilities using the multistage sampling method. We interviewed patients face to face to collect their socio-demographic-characteristics, lifestyle behaviours, clinical parameters and the triad care system-patient-physician. Another questionnaire was self-administered by physicians to characterize therapeutic inertia. A multivariate logistic regression analysis highlighted the risk factors associated with UBP. Results UBP prevalence was 73% with a mean age of 61±11 years (mean±standard deviation) and a male/female ratio of 1/3. Risk factors associated with UBP were: therapeutic inertia (adjusted odds ratio to other variables (AOR) = 18.2, 95% CI [8.35-39.84]), drug non-adherence (AOR = 1.8, 95% CI [1.07-3.04]), obesity/overweight (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI [1.03-2.58]), unemployment (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI [1.09-3.01]), low income (AOR = 2.6, 95% CI [1.01-6.86]), family history of hypertension (AOR = 1.5, 95% CI [1.07-2.08]) and male sex (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI [1.04-2.58]). Conclusion UBP prevalence is high in Meknes. Prevention should firstly focus on raised awareness of hypertensive patients' self-care management. Secondly, health professionals should better comply to the guidelines of anti-hypertensive treatments. Lastly, health professionals should frequently be reminded to reach therapeutic goals to overcome therapeutic inertia.
14 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine whether ICOs are a passing fad or a worthwhile form of financing with beneficial economic properties and examine how financing a start-up through an ICO changes the incentives of an entrepreneur relative to debt and venture capital financing.
Abstract: Initial coin offerings (ICOs) are a new mode of financing start-ups that saw an explosion in popularity in 2017 but declined in popularity in the second half of 2018 as regulatory pressure, instances of fraud and reports of poor performance began to undermine their reputation. We examine whether ICOs are a passing fad or a worthwhile form of financing with beneficial economic properties. We do so by examining how financing a start-up through an ICO changes the incentives of an entrepreneur relative to debt and venture capital financing. Depending on market characteristics, an ICO can result in a better or worse alignment of the interests of the entrepreneur and the investors compared with conventional modes of financing. Notably, an ICO can be the only form of financing that induces optimal effort and hence maximizes the net present value of the start-up, and there are projects that should not take place at all unless they can be financed through an ICO.
14 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a method to shift freight from a higher emission mode to one associated with low emission mode, which is a significant and growing contributor to transportation emissions globally.
Abstract: Freight movement is a significant and growing contributor to transportation emissions globally. Modal shifts in freight, that is, moving freight from a higher emission mode to one associated with l...
01 Aug 2019
TL;DR: An end-to-end time series classification approach for the detection of rail joints on railway track using acceleration data by training Convolutional Neural Networks.
Abstract: Railway maintenance is crucial to the safety and efficiency of railway operation. Condition monitoring of railway infrastructure has become more and more important that railway companies move to take advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) based technologies. Successful deployment of the technology will enable railway companies to conduct proper predictive maintenances before defects and failures take place so as to improve operation safety and efficiency. This paper presents an end-to-end time series classification approach for the detection of rail joints on railway track using acceleration data by training Convolutional Neural Networks. The advantages of this approach are: 1) working with raw data to reduce the heavy preprocessing of data; and 2) being able to detect joints on left or right rail using one model. Two convolutional networks of ResNet and FCN are investigated and compared. The experimental results show both networks obtain good performance.
TL;DR: The authors quantifies the effect of standard harmonization on trade flows and characterizes the extent to which it changes the cost and demand structure of exporting, showing that divergent product standards are a major obstacle to international trade.
Abstract: Product standards are omnipresent in industrialized societies. Though standardization can be beneficial for domestic producers, divergent product standards have been categorized as a major obstacle to international trade. This paper quantifies the effect of standard harmonization on trade flows and characterizes the extent to which it changes the cost and demand structure of exporting.
TL;DR: The RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) as discussed by the authors is a Canadian Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mission, providing C-band SAR data continuity of the RADARSat-1 and RADARS-2 satellite missions.
Abstract: The RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) is a Canadian Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mission, providing C-band SAR data continuity of the RADARSAT-1 and RADARSAT-2 satellite missions. The RCM whic...
TL;DR: In this article, the impacts of the introduction of formal child care services in 28 Inuit communities in Canada's North were studied and the authors used geographical variation in the timing of the child care servi...
Abstract: We study the impacts of the introduction of formal child care services in 28 Inuit communities in Canada’s North. We use geographical variation in the timing of the introduction of child care servi...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors studied the emergence of bubbles in a laboratory experiment with large groups of individuals and found that large asset bubbles occur in large groups, information contagion through news affects behaviour and may break the coordination on a bubble, time varying heterogeneity provides an accurate explanation of bubble formation and crashes, and bubbles are strongly amplified by coordination on trendextrapolation.
Abstract: We study the emergence of bubbles in a laboratory experiment with large groups of individuals. The realized price is the aggregation of the forecasts of a group of individuals, with positive expectations feedback through speculative demand. When prices deviate from fundamental value, a random selection of participants receives news about overvaluation. Our findings are: (i) large asset bubbles occur in large groups, (ii) information contagion through news affects behaviour and may break the coordination on a bubble, (iii) time varying heterogeneity provides an accurate explanation of bubble formation and crashes, and (iv) bubbles are strongly amplified by coordination on trend-extrapolation.
01 Jul 2019
TL;DR: In this study, fully polarimetric SAR images were collected over the Resolute Bay area during the fall of 2017 and derived CP parameters were analysed in relation to the ice thickness and salinity of lake ice and fast sea ice.
Abstract: Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) remote sensing has become a valuable tool for sea ice monitoring. A recently proposed SAR configuration for Earth observation called compact polarimetric (CP) SAR could be a good compromised choice between conventional (single or dual) and fully polarimetric SAR for operational sea ice observation. Given its enhanced radar target information compared to conventional SAR systems over wider swath coverage compared to fully polarimetric SAR systems, CP SAR systems could play important role in the new generation of Earth observation systems. In this study, fully polarimetric SAR images were collected over the Resolute Bay area during the fall of 2017. Acquired images are used for the simulation of CP SAR images and the derivation of a set of 23 CP SAR parameters from each image. The derived CP parameters were analysed in relation to the ice thickness and salinity of lake ice and fast sea ice. Results are compared against backscattering and decomposition parameters derived from the fully polarimetric SAR imagery.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the ability for regional trade agreements (RTAs) to push forward agricultural liberalization in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and found that RTAs can be used to support agricultural liberalisation.
Abstract: This article investigates the ability for regional trade agreements (RTAs) to push forward agricultural liberalization. Our study of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) demonstr...
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TL;DR: In this paper, a simple model of lending where borrowers are screened at loan origination and lenders can learn about loan quality over time was proposed, where lenders can transfer the loan default risk to outside financiers through loan insurance.
Abstract: Third parties often assume default risk at loan origination in return for a fee. Insurance, various guarantees and external credit enhancements protect the owner of the loan against borrower default. Governments often assume such default risk through guarantees for various types of loans, including mortgages, student loans and small business loans. The widespread use of loan default insurance raises important questions: What is the impact of loan insurance on secondary market liquidity and on lending standards in primary markets? And is there a role for government intervention?
We propose a simple model of lending where borrowers are screened at loan origination and lenders can learn about loan quality over time. Lenders can transfer the loan default risk to outside financiers at loan origination through loan insurance. Alternatively, they can transfer the default risk after a liquidity shock or after learning about loan quality by selling the loan in the secondary market. The model features a trade-off between secondary market liquidity and lending standards. The timing of risk transfer affects this trade-off.
Loan insurance lowers the lending standards but improves the liquidity in secondary markets with a net improvement in welfare. Since lenders do not take into account the positive benefit of insurance on the liquidity in the market for uninsured loans, there is insufficient loan insurance in equilibrium. This implies that a regulator can improve welfare by subsidizing loan default insurance. We also consider a policy of outright loan purchases and show that while it is optimal to have it as an option to rule out inferior equilibria, only a policy of insurance subsidy is optimally used in equilibrium.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors document the importance of new firm level trade partner relationships and the addition of new products to existing relationships in driving long-run import flows using highly disaggregated transaction-level trade data.
Abstract: Using highly disaggregated transaction-level trade data, we document the importance of new firm level trade partner relationships and the addition of new products to existing relationships in driving long-run import flows.
01 Jul 2019
TL;DR: This research aimed at exploiting the joint use of machine learning and polarimetry for improving the retrieval of surface soil moisture (SMC) from SAR acquisitions at C- and X-band on an alpine test area in Italy and two agricultural areas in Canada.
Abstract: This research aimed at exploiting the joint use of machine learning and polarimetry for improving the retrieval of surface soil moisture (SMC) from SAR acquisitions at C- and X-band.The study was conducted on an alpine test area in Italy and two agricultural areas in Canada, for which series of Radarsat-2 (RS2) and COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) images were available along with direct measurements of SMC from in-situ stations. The analysis confirmed the sensitivity of SAR backscattering (σ°) from both sensors to the SMC variations, with similar correlations (R ≃0.5). The comparison of SMC with the Compact Polarimetric (CP) parameters, computed from the RS2 acquisitions by Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM) data simulator pointed out that the right and left polarized signals and the Shannon entropy intensity also have some sensitivity to SMC variations, with R ≃0.4 for all the three parameters.Based on these results, two different machine learning (ML) algorithms, namely Support Vector Regression (SVR) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) have been implemented and tested on the available data. On the South Tyrol test area, both SVR and ANN tested with different combinations of RS2 and CSK data were able to retrieve SMC with a RMSE between 4% and 6% of SMC and R between 0.78 and 0.88, depending on the combination of inputs. The ANN algorithm based on CP data was tested on the Canada areas, being able to estimate SMC with a RMSE between 2% and 5% of SMC and R between 0.85 and 0.96.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors study the implications of heterogeneity within the unemployed, especially when the unemployed are divided along eligibility and receipt of unemployment insurance, and they use a heterogeneous-agent job-search model capable of matching the wealth and income differences that distinguish UI recipients from non-recipients.
Abstract: We document considerable scope of heterogeneity within the unemployed, especially when the unemployed are divided along eligibility and receipt of unemployment insurance (UI). We study the implications of this heterogeneity on UI’s insurance-incentive trade-off using a heterogeneous-agent job-search model capable of matching the wealth and income differences that distinguish UI recipients from non-recipients. Insurance benefits are larger for UI recipients who are predominantly wealth-poor. Meanwhile, incentive costs are nonmonotonic in wealth because the poorest individuals, who value employment, exhibit weak responses. Differential elasticities imply that accounting for the composition of recipients is material to aligning model predictions with empirical estimates.
TL;DR: This work uses the overbidding restriction itself for identification, which allows it to bound the valuation distribution, the seller's payoff function, and the optimal reserve price and proposes simple estimators that remain valid if different bidders employ different bidding strategies.
Abstract: In laboratory experiments bidding in first-price auctions is more aggressive than predicted by the risk-neutral Bayesian Nash Equilibrium (RNBNE) - a finding known as the overbidding puzzle. Several models have been proposed to explain the overbidding puzzle, but no canonical alternative to RNBNE has emerged, and RNBNE remains the basis of the structural auction literature. Instead of estimating a particular model of overbidding, we use the overbidding restriction itself for identification, which allows us to bound the valuation distribution, the seller's payoff function, and the optimal reserve price. These bounds are consistent with RNBNE and all models of overbidding and remain valid if different bidders employ different bidding strategies. We propose simple estimators and evaluate the validity of the bounds numerically and in experimental data.
TL;DR: This research highlights the need to understand more fully the rationale behind the rapid decline in the number of females found in Northern Lights over the past 50 years.
Abstract: BRENDAN DELEHANTY, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A5, Canada; GREGORY D. BOSSART, Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, Georgia 30313, U.S.A.; CORY CHAMPAGNE, National Marine Mammal Foundation, 2240 Shelter Island Drive, Suite 200, San Diego, California 92106, U.S.A. and Old Dominion University, Department of Biological Sciences, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, U.S.A.; DANIEL E. CROCKER, Sonoma State University, 1801 E. Cotati Avenue, Rohnert Park, California 94928, U.S.A.; PATRICIA A. FAIR, Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, U.S.A.; MARTIN HAULENA, Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, PO Box 3232, Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 3X8, Canada; DORIAN HOUSER, National Marine Mammal Foundation, 2240 Shelter Island
TL;DR: The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) initiated an independent study to consider Ontario's experience with class actions since the enactment of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 (CPA) as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In 2017, the Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) initiated an independent study to consider Ontario’s experience with class actions since the enactment of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 (CPA). During this period, class actions have grown significantly in volume, complexity, and impact in Ontario and across Canada. Class actions also have systemic implications for access to justice, court procedures and efficiency, and government and corporate liability. Finally, this form of litigation has had major financial, policy and even cultural implications across the country.
Following an intensive 18-month research project that included over 100 interviews with stakeholders and an empirical examination of Ontario cases, the LCO published its final report, and made over 40 recommendations for amendment and reform of the CPA. It is the first review of the CPA since the Act's inception, and the most detailed examination of class actions in Canada in three decades.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied constrained-efficient dividend policy when banks fund loans with equity and debt, and found that constrained efficient dividends, while restricted during normal times and zero during crises, are higher during recoveries.
Abstract: Financial regulation imposes equity buffers on banks by restricting dividends. This paper studies constrained-efficient dividend policy when banks fund loans with equity and debt. In the model, bank shareholders consider equity costly and a bank’s access to debt depends on its shareholder value. In response to loan losses banks cut dividends, but eventually defer dividends too much. They do not internalize that a commitment to higher dividends (and fewer loans) during recoveries from financial crises would increase shareholder value and access to debt during crises. Constrained-efficient dividends, while restricted during normal times and zero during crises, are higher during recoveries.
31 Jan 2019
Abstract: This chapter provides a cost-benefit analysis of developmental crime prevention. From a life-course perspective, developmental prevention offers an intriguing solution to address growing concerns regarding current criminal justice practices, given the growing body of research that suggests that this type of intervention is both results-oriented and fiscally responsible. To this end, this chapter lays out the case for the economics of developmental crime prevention. It next provides an overview of the methodological basis, and related considerations, of a cost-benefit analysis, which assigns monetary values to program outcomes relative to program costs so as to provide an estimate of the financial return on investment. The chapter then reviews the leading cost-benefit analysis studies in developmental crime prevention today and offers a glimpse at the future of such research.
01 Nov 2019
TL;DR: A novel continuous phase modulation receiver model is proposed in this paper that employs deep learning (DL) techniques to improve the signal recovery and synchronization performance under heavy jamming conditions for frequency hopping based waveforms.
Abstract: A novel continuous phase modulation (CPM) receiver model is proposed in this paper that employs deep learning (DL) techniques to improve the signal recovery and synchronization performance under heavy jamming conditions for frequency hopping (FH) based waveforms. A hybrid deep neural network is used to implement the DL in the receiver model. The simulation results show that the proposed receiver with DL boosting is robust under tone jamming which is a worst case scenario for a CPM receiver. The model achieves 3 − 5dB improvement under single-tone jamming, in terms of bit-error-rate (BER), and 2dB improvement under multi-tone jamming, compared with a receiver without DL.
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: Analysis of diluted specimens using lower cutoff values aid in detecting illicit drugs in some of the diluted specimens which would have otherwise been missed.
Abstract: Although Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has no recommended protocol for analysis of diluted urine where creatinine concentration is below a threshold value, Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) has a protocol for analysis of urine where creatinine concentration is below the threshold value. Even if the creatinine concentration is below the threshold creatinine concentration in urine, CSC protocol allows analysis of such specimen using regular cutoff concentrations of drugs in urine. If initial screening is negative, then these diluted specimens are reanalyzed using lower cutoff concentrations of individual drugs as proposed in the protocol for analysis of diluted specimens. Although percentages of diluted specimens are in general below 5%, analysis of diluted specimens using lower cutoff values aid in detecting illicit drugs in some of the diluted specimens which would have otherwise been missed.
TL;DR: In this article, a shape restriction is proposed to control the size of an infinite-dimensional parameter with respect to the number of unconditional moment equalities, which leads to a convex restriction set.
Abstract: This paper studies the inference problem of an infinite-dimensional parameter with a shape restriction. This parameter is identified by arbitrarily many unconditional moment equalities. The shape restriction leads to a convex restriction set. I propose a test of the shape restriction, which controls size uniformly and applies to both point-identified and partially identified models. The test can be inverted to construct confidence sets after imposing the shape restriction. Monte Carlo experiments show the finite-sample properties of this method. In an empirical illustration, I apply the method to ascending auctions held by the US Forest Service and show that imposing shape restrictions can significantly improve inference.