We use a variation on the business cycle accounting method of Chari, Kehoe and McGrattan (CKM) to study the business cycle in Argentina from 1972 to 2006. The method uses real data together with the equilibrium conditions of a prototype growth model to measure four wedges that are explained by...

The BCRA publishes monthly an expectations survey (REM) that summaries the forecasts and projections of a group of economic analysts and consultants. The BCRA publishes only the mean, the median, and the standard deviation of the sample received. The logic for using these statistics is that all...

This paper analyzes the evolution and differential scope of restrictions to financing for the companies surveyed by the Large Companies Survey (ENGE) of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) during the period 1995-2003. The main purpose of this study is to differentiate results...

The use of banking services in Argentina is relatively low, both in terms of historical standards and in comparison with similarly developed countries. This low bankarization level involves not only use but also availability of banking infrastructure and access to that services. However during...

In order to comply with their main objective of price stability, monetary authorities rely on analytic tools to properly assess tendencies and inflationary pressures in the economy. Therefore Central Banks are interested in analyzing and monitoring changes in cyclical fluctuations of economic...

The presence of seasonal fluctuations (regular behavior along the year related to weather or institutional factors) invalidates monthly (quarterly) comparisons. In turn, since inter-annual variations depend on the comparison basis being used, they could provide very little information to the...

We exploit the richness of a large data set of daily and monthly business cycle indicators by pooling them to produce Nowcast of contemporaneous real GDP growth. We conduct predictions based on a pooling of bivariate forecasts which uses these indicators as predictors of GDP (Nowcast with...

Loan diversification is a typical mechanism used by financial institutions to minimize their portfolio risk. However, diversification might not always be beneficial in response to the complex task of monitoring credit risks and the associated incentives. For instance, a highly diversified bank...

In this paper a bank faces excess demand in the loan market, can sort loan applicants by an observable measure of quality, and faces a small but positive probability of default. The bank uses two policies to allocate credit: (i) tighten restrictions on loan quality; (ii) limit the number of...

The analysis of the output gap dynamics (the difference between the observed and the non-inflationary potential output) is a widely used tool for structural models employed by central banks. In such models, the output gap is a key variable to explain the dynamics of prices and wages. However,...