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Estimating the adverse selection and fixed costs of trading in markets with multiple informed traders
We investigate, both theoretically and empirically, the relation between the adverse selection and fixed costs of trading and the number of informed traders in a financial asset. As a proxy for informed traders, we use dual traders -- i.e., futures floor traders who execute trades both for their own and customers' accounts on the same day. Our theoretical model shows that dual traders optimally mimic the size and direction of their informed customers' trades. Further, the adverse selection (fixed) costs of trading: (1) decrease (increase) with the number of dual traders m, if dual traders are ...
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Did the good guys lose?: heterogeneous traders and regulatory restrictions on dual trading
We study the effect of restrictions on dual trading in futures contracts. Previous studies have found that dual trading restrictions can have a positive, negative, or neutral effect on market liquidity. In this paper, we propose that trader heterogeneity may explain these conflicting results. We find that, for contracts affected by restrictions, the change in market activity following restrictions differs between contracts. More important, the effect of a restriction varies among dual traders in the same market. For example, dual traders who ceased trading the S&P 500 index futures ...
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Market liquidity and trader welfare in multiple dealer markets: evidence from dual trading restrictions
Dual trading is the practice whereby futures floor traders execute trades both for their own and customers' accounts on the same day. We provide evidence, in the context of restrictions on dual trading, that aggregate liquidity measures, such as the average bid-ask spread, may be misleading indicators of traders' welfare in markets with multiple, heterogeneously skilled dealers. In our theoretical model, hedgers and informed customers trade through futures floor traders of different skill levels: more skilled floor traders attract more hedgers to trade. We show that customers' welfare and ...
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Estimating the adverse selection cost in markets with multiple informed traders
We investigate the relation between the number of informed traders in a financial asset and the estimated adverse selection cost of trading in that asset, lambda, after controlling for the effects of previously identified determinants of market liquidity. As a proxy for informed traders, we use dual traders in futures markets - i.e., floor traders who trade both for customers and their own accounts on the same day. We show, theoretically, that it is optimal for dual traders to mimic both the size and direction of their informed customers' orders. Using data from four selected futures ...
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Information asymmetry, market segmentation, and the pricing of cross-listed shares: theory and evidence from Chinese A and B shares
In contrast to most other countries, Chinese foreign class B shares trade at an average discount of about 60 percent to the prices at which domestic A shares trade. We argue that one reason for the large price discount of B shares is because foreign investors have less information on Chinese stocks than domestic investors. We develop a model, incorporating both informational asymmetry and market segmentation, and derive a relative pricing equation for A shares and B shares. We show theoretically that an A share index security, tradable by foreigners, increases the liquidity of B shares. Our ...
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The costs and benefits of dual trading
This paper finds that marketmaking practices of dual traders are pit-specific. In the S&P 500 futures pit, the authors estimate that, because of a lower price impact, customers of dual traders pay eighteen cents less per contract on their trades, compared with customers of pure brokers. According to the authors' estimates, however, customers pay eleven cents more per contract for a purchase and receive nine cents less per contract for a sale, compared with the prices dual traders obtain for their own trades. Thus, the estimated net benefit of dual trading to customers in the S&P 500 futures ...