Special Issues: 2005
Disclosure, Transparency and Market Microstructure
Over the past 10 years, securities markets have experienced more change than over the previous 100 years. In the U.S., government investigations have led to rule changes that have fundamentally altered the structure of the over-the-counter market and to a lesser degree, the listed market. Internationally, markets have sought to aggregate order flow by consolidation, eliminating taxes, and attempting mergers and cooperative agreements. Technology has also had an important impact. A number of markets allow automatic order execution. Others employ computer programs, in which participants' quotes are automatically updated and routed.
The changes in market structure are ongoing, and often justified because exchanges or regulators believe they are "the right thing to do." Questions remain, however, as to the true economic value of these changes. The Journal of Economics and Business will publish a special issue in 2005 that will serve as a forum for the continued investigation of changes in market structure. We invite theoretical and empirical papers on the following general topics. Papers on related topics will also be considered:
- The impact of differential taxes or fees on traders' choice of venue
- The SEC mandated the publication of order execution statistics for brokers and markets. Do investors use these statistics in their decisions to route orders or choose brokers? Have they resulted in improved order execution for investors?
- Do the mergers of exchanges lead to economies of scale that are then reflected in execution costs?
- What is the impact of efforts to consolidate order flow, within an exchange, on market quality?
- How have new disclosure rules affected liquidity, depth, and overall cost of trading?
- What impact has increased transparency had on market quality?
- What happens to the relative size of markets and to overall market quality when the same (or a similar) rule change is imposed across differing market structures?
The coeditors of the special issue are Ravi Shukla of Syracuse University and Daniel Weaver of Rutgers University. Authors should submit four copies of their paper to: Ravi Shukla and Daniel Weaver, Special Issue Coeditors, Journal of Economics and Business, Fox School of Business and Management, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122. Papers may also be submitted electronically in either Adobe Acrobat or Word format to the Journal's e-mail address: jeconbus@sbm.temple.edu. All papers will be refereed and there is no submission fee. The deadline for submission is July 1, 2004.