Economies of Scale and Degree of Capacity Utilization. Evidence from Retail Banks in Argentina

The permanent income/transitory income distinction from consumption functions can be applied to cost functions. Transitory deviations of actual output from potential output, i.e. variations in capacity utilization, are relevant for the pattern of U-shaped average costs found in econometric studies. Data from retail banks in Argentina are used to illustrate this issue, with the number of branches as a proxy for potential output, and product per branch as a proxy for the utilization level. Economies of scale at the plant level can be reinterpreted as an indication of excess capacity in the banking industry.