Government of Canada

About: Government of Canada is a government organization based out in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Monetary policy & Productivity. The organization has 796 authors who have published 886 publications receiving 21366 citations. The organization is also known as: federal government of Canada & Her Majesty's Government.

Fiscal Planning Under Uncertainty – The Implications of Economic and Fiscal Uncertainty for Budget Forecasts

Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of the uncertainty in projections of the federal budget balance arising due to uncertainty in economic, and government revenue and spending projections. Budget projections frequently differ from actual results due to an unavoidable level of uncertainty contained in the underlying economic projections as well as a relationship between economic inputs and fiscal projections that is often volatile. Using a stochastic simulation model that includes a detailed specification for the economy and federal government finances and random variables to proxy uncertainty in these variables, a probability distribution for the budget balance is generated and the probability of achieving a surplus is estimated given various assumptions for fiscal prudence.

How's Life at Home? New Evidence on Marriage and the Set Point for Happiness

Abstract: Subjective well-being research has often found that marriage is positively correlated with well-being. Some have argued that this correlation may be result of happier people being more likely to marry. Others have presented evidence suggesting that the well-being benefits of marriage are short-lasting. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey, we control individual pre-marital well-being levels and find that the married are still more satisfied, suggesting a causal effect, even after full allowance is made for selection effects. Using new data from the United Kingdom's Annual Population Survey, we find that the married have a less deep U-shape in life satisfaction across age groups than do the unmarried, indicating that marriage may help ease the causes of the mid-life dip in life satisfaction and that the benefits of marriage are unlikely to be short-lived. We explore friendship as a mechanism which could help explain a causal relationship between marriage and life satisfaction, and find that well-being effects of marriage are about twice as large for those whose spouse is also their best friend. Finally, we use the Gallup World Poll to show that although the overall well-being effects of marriage appear to vary across cultural contexts, marriage eases the middle-age dip in life evaluations for all regions except Sub-Saharan Africa.Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.

Fixed-Term and Permanent Employment Contracts: Theory and Evidence

Abstract: This paper constructs a theory of the coexistence of fixed-term and permanent employment contracts in an environment with ex ante identical workers and employers. Workers under fixed-term contracts can be dismissed at no cost while permanent employees enjoy labor protection. In a labor market characterized by search and matching frictions, firms find it optimal to discriminate by offering some workers a fixed-term contract while offering other workers a permanent contract. Match-specific quality between a worker and a firm determines the type of contract offered. We analytically characterize the firms' hiring and firing rules. Using matched employer-employee data from Canada, we estimate the wage equations from the model. The effects of firing costs on wage inequality vary dramatically depending on whether search externalities are taken into account.

Plan for flight evaluation of attitude stabilization and flexible solar array dynamics for the communications technology satellite

Abstract: The Communications Technology Satellite (CTS) will be launched into synchronous orbit with a Thor Delta 2914 vehicle in early 1976. CTS is a joint program of the Canadian Department of Communications (DOC), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the European Space Agency (ESA). The agreements between DOC and NASA formally identify several communications satellite systems technologies to be developed and flight tested in the course of the program, among which are a 3-axis stabilization system to maintain accurate antenna boresight pointing on a spacecraft with flexible appendages, and an extendible lightweight solar array with an initial power output greater than one kilowatt. The present paper describes the corresponding plan and technical activity which is presently being implemented by the Department of Communications in conjunction with SPAR Aerospace Products Limited, University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, and Telesat Canada. The 3-axis attitude stabilization system for CTS utilizes the ‘momentum wheel with offset thrusters’ principle for on-orbit stabilization. The accuracy of stabilization is projected to be ±0.1° in roll and pitch, and 1.1° in yaw. The solar array for CTS has a beginning-of-life power of 1.2 kilowatt. It employs two solar panels, each 653 cm long and 130 cm wide. The array folds up concertina fashion for stowage, and in deploying and deployed states has significant structural flexibility. CTS will carry instruments to enable flight test, among which are array accelerometers, an array deflection sensing system, array load cells, and temperature sensors. A number of passive ‘monitoring’ and active ‘special excitation’ events will be performed during the two-year mission, to flight test attitude stabilization and solar array design, and to explore structural flexibility and the flexibility and control interaction. In the paper, the stabilization system and solar array are briefly described. Pre-launch analysis, ground test, and parameter determination are discussed. Basic uncertainties which require flight test validation are discussed, and corresponding flight test objectives are outlined. The flight instrumentation to be carried on CTS is described. A computer-based data processing system to be used to handle, distribute, and analyse the flight data, is described. The passive and active events to be monitored during the CTS mission are outlined and discussed.

A Model for the Detection of Insurance Fraud

Abstract: The aim of this article is to develop a model to aid insurance companies in their decision-making and to ensure that they are better equipped to fight fraud. This tool is based on the systematic use of fraud indicators. We first propose a procedure to isolate the indicators which are most significant in predicting the probability that a claim may be fraudulent. We applied the procedure to data collected in the Dionne Belhadji study (1996). The model allowed us to observe that 23 of the 54 indicators used were significant in predicting the probability of fraud. Our study also discusses the model's accuracy and detection capability. The detection rates obtained by the adjusters who participated in the study constitute the reference point of this discussion. As shown in the Caron-Dionne (1998), there is the possibility that these rates underestimate the true level of fraud.