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What Can Earnings Calls Tell Us About the Output Gap and Inflation in Canada?

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  • Marc-André Gosselin
  • Temel Taskin

Abstract

We construct new indicators of the imbalance between demand and supply for the Canadian economy by using natural language processing techniques to analyze earnings calls of publicly listed firms. The results show that the text-based indicators are highly correlated with official inflation data and estimates of the output gap and improve the accuracy of inflation forecasts. This suggests that these indicators could help central banks foresee inflationary pressures in the economy. Our examination of other topics in earnings calls, such as supply chain disruptions and capacity constraints, points to the potential benefits of using textual data to quickly draw insights on a range of relevant topics. We conclude that text-based measures of economic slack should be included in central banks’ monitoring and forecasting toolkits.

Suggested Citation

  • Marc-André Gosselin & Temel Taskin, 2023. "What Can Earnings Calls Tell Us About the Output Gap and Inflation in Canada?," Discussion Papers 2023-13, Bank of Canada.
    • Handle: RePEc:bca:bocadp:23-13
    DOI: 10.34989/sdp-2023-13
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Weber, Isabella M. & Wasner, Evan & Lang, Markus & Braun, Benjamin & van ’t Klooster, Jens, 2025. "Implicit coordination in sellers’ inflation: How cost shocks facilitate price hikes," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 690-712.
    2. Franz Ulrich Ruch & Temel Taskin, 2024. "Global Demand and Supply Sentiment: Evidence From Earnings Calls," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 86(2), pages 314-334, April.
    3. Tarek A. Hassan & Stephan Hollander & Aakash Kalyani & Markus Schwedeler & Ahmed Tahoun & Laurence van Lent, 2024. "Text as Data in Economic Analysis," Working Papers 2024-022, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised 11 Sep 2025.
    4. Weber, Isabella & Wasner, Evan & Lang, Markus & Braun, Benjamin & Klooster, Jens van’t, 2025. "Implicit coordination in sellers’ inflation: how cost shocks facilitate price hikes," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 128231, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Nicholas Gray & Finn Lattimore & Kate McLoughlin & Callan Windsor, 2025. "An AI-powered Tool for Central Bank Business Liaisons: Quantitative Indicators and On-demand Insights from Firms," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2025-06, Reserve Bank of Australia.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General
    • C3 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables
    • E3 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
    • E5 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit

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