An Assessment of Competition in the Argentine Banking Sector: Empirical Evidence with Data at Bank Level

The profit-maximizing and oligopoly bank model developed by Bresnahan and Lau allows determining the degree of market power held by an average bank. The equilibrium price equation includes a mark up, which is not used in the case of perfect competition but which is partially used in the case of oligopoly or monopolistic competition, and it is fully used in the case of monopoly. This paper explores the degree of competition in the credit market of Argentina in the period 2002-2007. The hypothesis of perfect competition in the loan market can be rejected.