Economies of Scale in the Farm Credit System
Jess Thompson, Lawrenceburg, Ky., defended his thesis, “Economies of Scale in the Farm Credit System,” Monday, December 6, 2004, in Manhattan, Kan. Thompson is the Assistant Vice President for First Independence Bank of Lawrenceburg. Thompson grew up in Paducah, Ky.
The thesis examined small, medium and large sized Farm Credit Systems (FCS), a government sponsored enterprise made up of independent agricultural financial cooperatives. The thesis examined which size entity provided the lowest cost to its customer and whether or not economies of scale exist within the system.
“This program of study has been fantastic,” Thompson said. “I feel like this type of education transforms an employee into a leader.”
“Jess’s thesis found that, while not the case for all of the cooperatives studied, most that were larger than Farm Credit System Cooperatives tended to be able to use labor more efficiently and have a lower funding cost,” Major Professor, Allen Featherstone said.
