In this article, John Lester describes the federal tax expenditures database developed as part of the Finances of the Nation data portal. He also uses the database to analyze trends in federal tax expenditures over a 21-year period ending in 2019 and to identify the beneficiaries and the...

This study seeks to assess recent evidence on funding cost differentials among US Bank Holding Companies (BHCs), to better inform the debate about the future of financial reform in the US. Specifically, we measure differences in market spreads observed from 2009-2013 for senior unsecured bonds...

We contribute to the research on the measurement of “too big to fail” (TBTF) effects by examining differences in deposit funding costs between the largest US banks and the rest of the industry. We apply the approach pioneered by Stefan Jacewitz and Jonathan Pogach in their recent working...

The global economic lockdown implemented to contain the COVID-19 virus has caused the most severe economic downturn in Canada since the Great Depression in the 1930s. However, while production plummeted, the overall income of Canadians fell much less because of the federal government’s...

Special supports for small businesses are a hallmark of both federal and provincial tax policy. There are two major federal programs: the Small Business Deduction (SBD), which provides small business a special lower income tax rate, and the enhanced Scientific Research and Experimental...

There is a sound public policy case for subsidizing R&D. When firms perform R&D, they create knowledge that allows them to introduce new products, improve existing goods and services or reduce production costs. However, some of the knowledge created inevitably leaks out or spills over to other...

When the final accounting is done, federal debt is likely to be about $550 billion higher because of pandemic-related lockdowns in Canada and other countries. Most of the current discussion around the additional debt focusses on its sustainability – whether the debt can be rolled over...

Small business dynamism is a feature of an SME sector that contributes to overall productivity growth, not an end in itself. Such dynamism increases productivity growth by reallocating resources towards more productive firms and strengthening the diffusion of new technologies. Small business...