Xu Zhang

Combine rigorous economic frameworks with practical data infrastructure to translate econometric models, forecasts, and insights from financial, survey, and text-based data into clear, decision-ready recommendations. Approachable, consultative style, building strong relationships with technical and non-technical partners.

Instructor at CARLETON UNIVERSITY (2026 – Present)

Teach master's-level course in financial econometrics, covering financial returns and time-series modeling, return predictability, CAPM, ARCH/GARCH and stochastic volatility, and risk management using Value-at-Risk. Integrate econometric theory with empirical applications in financial markets, including model estimation, hypothesis testing, forecasting, and evaluation of asset-pricing and risk models.

Principal Researcher at BANK OF CANADA (2024 – 2026)

Led advanced economic research, forecasting, and policy analysis on macroeconomic conditions, financial markets, and monetary policy using econometric and machine-learning methods to support senior-level decision-making. Provided technical leadership for cross-functional projects involving economists, data scientists, and policy stakeholders, and contributed to departmental projections and policy briefings for senior management.

• Designed high-frequency event-study database for monetary policy communications and macroeconomic data releases, integrating term-structure models to measure effects on short-term rates, long-term yields, equities, and exchange rates for market-monitoring dashboards and policy briefings.
• Led short-term forecasting and real-time monitoring of domestic and global macroeconomic and financial conditions to support policy analysis and senior briefings.
• Built LLM tone-classification pipeline for Bank of Canada communications and dealer commentary, creating tools to track how market participants interpreted Bank communications and presenting policy-cycle findings to internal and external audiences.
• Analyzed household inflation, wage, and spending expectations using Canadian Survey of Consumer Expectations data, producing research recognized with the 2025 Doug Purvis Memorial Prize and policy insights for senior internal presentations.

Senior Economist at BANK OF CANADA (2020 – 2024)

Built and maintained econometric models, monitoring frameworks, reproducible data pipelines, and analytical tools in Python, R, Stata, and MATLAB. Monitored macroeconomic and financial developments, prepared briefing materials and analytical responses, and collaborated with internal teams and external stakeholders on research, projections, and policy-related analysis.

• Developed new monetary policy shock measure and proxy-SVAR frameworks, separating policy stance from central bank information effects, and estimating causal impacts on inflation and output.
• Conducted event-study and DSGE model analysis of Bank of Canada's Government Bond Purchase Program, estimating how quantitative easing affected bond yields, GDP, and inflation; presented findings to Governing Council and informed policy decisions, including Bank's pandemic policy review.
• Developed money market dispersion index to assess effectiveness of Bank of Canada interventions in restoring market functioning during COVID-19 financial stress episode.
• Analyzed financial stability risks across housing markets, non-traditional credit, and financial-market volatility, assessing macro-financial vulnerabilities and implications for households and the broader economy.
• Created machine-learning toolkits to analyze text, audio, and video data from policy communications, linking language, tone, and visual signals to financial market responses.

Teaching Assistant at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO (2014 – 2019)

• Macroeconomics A
• Macroeconomics B
• Econometrics B
• Business Forecasting
• Introduction to Operations Research
• Financial Markets
• Corporate Finance

Teaching Assistant at PEKING UNIVERSITY (2012 – 2012)

• Applied Econometrics
• Intermediate Microeconomics
• Labor Economics
• Managerial Economics

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Economics – University of California, San Diego

Master of Arts (MA) in Economics – Peking University

Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics – Central University of Finance and Economics