INFORMATION ASYMMETRIES, CREDIT RATIONING AND BANKING CONCENTRATION: THE ARGENTINEAN CASE

This paper highlights the importance of the information efficiency in the banking sector as a way to ensure his correct operation as financial intermediary and the correct functioning of the economy in general. The problems of information in the banks distort their relation with the financing demand and especially with the sector of the SMEs, what really means an important obstacle for the smooth operation of any market system. The analysis is centred in the relative size of the financial institutions, the generation of different types of information and the way how it affects the sector of the SMEs. By means of empirical evidence we will show how the greater size of the banks has influence on the creation of information systems that are not well adapted for some segments of the demand or even they do not generate information at all.