Oats are the fourth most important crop in the United States, qfter corn, wheat and soybeans, according to area planet. The U.S. is an impotant world producer of oats, ranking second only to the U.S.S.R., although West Germany, Poland and Canada are important producers.

The cost of liquidity is the major cost of transacting on organised futures exchanges. Liquidity has value both to traders and to exchanges. This paper argues that liquidity varies directly with market development, and that this relationship provides a major incentive for mergers among...