The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the banking system, over and beyond its credit function, has a significant impact on per capita GDP by providing means of payment. An annual database of 85 countries spanning the 1980-2008 period is exploited to this end. On the descriptive front,...

The goal of this paper is to provide up-to-date worldwide evidence on the short-term relationship between credit changes and output changes. Standard correlation methods, state of-the-art panel Granger causality tests, and panel regressions were applied on a maximum sample of 144 countries over...

This paper analyzes the relationship between the quality of the commercial credit portfolio and diversification in the financial entities of Argentina during the period 1998-2006. To this effect, a database of the financial sector (banking and non-banking) is used, which allows to consider three...

The purpose of this paper is to analyze, for the first time, the characteristics of non-performing loans in the Argentine banking system in the period 1999-2005, focusing on loans to companies. These are the main findings: (1) the percentage of non-performing loans is closely related to the...

The level of bankarization (access to and use of banking services) is relatively low in Argentina both in historical terms and compared with similarly developed countries. This is shown by indicators both of access to and use of banking services. This paper analyzes a unique database containing...

This paper analyzes the determinants of the interest rate of short-term unsecured loan inter-bank market (call) in Argentina. The results show that the heterogeneous nature of the entities, in terms of size and origin of ownership, impacts on the interest rate agreed. Other additional aspects,...

This paper delves into the importance of access to financing for the performance of firms in export markets. Based on a unique microeconomic database that combines data on Argentine firms´ characteristics and export performance with information on their domestic and external financing, we...

Based on the information of Argentine banks during the period 1998-2005, this paper analyzes if the bank loan portfolio was efficient in the sense of prioritizing the productive sectors with higher growth and stability. The statistical and econometrical response of the study is an unequivocal...

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...

Based on the information of Argentine banks during the period 1998-2005, this paper analyzes if the bank loan portfolio was efficient in the sense of prioritizing the productive sectors with higher growth and stability. The statistical and econometrical response of the study is an unequivocal...