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Leatham, David Professor and Associate Department Head

Positions

My primary research focus is on improving financial decision making for agricultural businesses including farms and ranches. The optimal portfolio of assets (investment decisions), and the optimal portfolio of short-term credit, long-term credit and owner's equity to finance assets (capital structure decisions) are important business decisions. The outcome of investment and capital structure decisions is dependent on future events; thus, time and uncertainty must be considered. Much of this research is done in a risk/return framework where optimal decisions depend on an individual's risk/return preference.



My secondary focus is on improving the ability of financial intermediaries to provide credit TO agricultural businesses (agricultural credit). Specifically, this work centers on 1) designing and evaluating financial derivatives that can be used by agricultural lenders to manage interest rate risk, 2) improving credit assessment models, and 3) assessing the impact of deregulation and structural changes on agricultural lender's ability and willingness to provide credit to agricultural firms.

HR job title

  • Professor and Associate Department Head