Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/248313 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
Bank of Canada Staff Working Paper No. 2021-52
Publisher: 
Bank of Canada, Ottawa
Abstract: 
We use a detailed micro dataset on product availability to construct a direct high frequency measure of consumer product shortages during the 2020-21 pandemic. We document a widespread multi-fold rise in shortages in nearly all sectors early in the pandemic. Over time, the composition of shortages evolved from many temporary stockouts to mostly discontinued products, concentrated in fewer sectors. We show that product shortages have significant but transitory inflationary effects and that these effects can be associated with elevated costs of replenishing inventories.
Subjects: 
Inflation and prices
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
JEL: 
D22
E31
E3
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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