Bank relationships: effect on the availability and marginal cost of credit for firms in Argentina
Abstract: This paper provides evidence on what affects the marginal cost and availability of bank credit for firms in Argentina. We study, in particular, how banks use different pieces of private and public information to screen firms and overcome informational asymmetries in the credit market. Some private information is transferable, such as balance sheet data. Private information generated in relationships is not. To capture the closeness of bank relationships, we use the concentration of bank credit and the number of credit lines at a bank.