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 & Debt. 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.

Railway Joint Detection Using Deep 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.

Cash Management and Payment Choices: A Simulation Model with International Comparisons

Abstract: Despite various payment innovations, today, cash is still heavily used to pay for low-value purchases. This paper develops a simulation model to test whether standard implications of the theory on cash management and payment choices can explain the use of payment instruments by transaction size. In particular, using diary survey data from Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands, we test the assumption that cash is still the most efficient payment instrument, and the idea that people hold cash for precautionary reasons when facing uncertainty about their future purchases. The results of the simulations show that these two factors are significant determinants of the high shares of low-value cash payments in Canada, France and Germany. Yet, they are not so crucial in the Netherlands, which exhibits a significant share of low-value card transactions. We discuss how the differences in payment markets across countries may explain the performance of the model.

The Long-Term Earnings Impact of Post-Secondary Education Following Job Loss

Abstract: In this study, the long-term impact on earnings of attending post-secondary education institutions following job loss is estimated using a large longitudinal administrative database of Canadian workers. A difference-in-difference model is used for this purpose. The results suggest that, over the period spanning five years preceding and nine years following job loss, workers who attended post-secondary education shortly after displacement saw their earnings increase by almost $7,000 more than displaced workers who did not. Significant benefits are found by sex, age, marital status, and union coverage, with the exception of men aged 35 to 44 years. Despite the benefits of education, job displacement is found to be associated with only a modest increase in post-secondary education attendance for all groups examined.

No Double Standards: Quantifying the Impact of Standard Harmonization on 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.

Rediscounting Under Aggregate Risk With Moral Hazard

Abstract: In a 1999 paper, Freeman proposes a model in which discount window lending and open market operations have different outcomes - an important development because in most of the literature the results of these policy tools are indistinguishable. Freeman's conclusion that the central bank should absorb losses related to default to provide risk-sharing goes against the concern that central banks should limit their exposure to credit risk. We extend Freeman's model by introducing moral hazard. With moral hazard, the central bank should avoid absorbing losses, contrary to Freeman's argument. However, we show that the outcomes of discount window lending and open market operations can still be distinguished in this new framework. The optimal policy would be for the central bank to make a restricted number of creditors compete for funds. By restricting the number of agents, the central bank can limit the moral hazard problem. And by making agents compete with each other, the central bank can exploit market information that reveals the state of the economy.