We conduct a field experiment to see if market liquidity has a causal effect on price efficiency and, if so, why. We randomly provide liquidity in certain horse race betting markets, and not in others. We find that prices in treated markets are indeed more efficient than prices in control...

The prediction market literature proposes that markets efficiently incorporate all available information. In contrast, behavioral finance assumes individual decision-making biases affect financial markets. We examine both using Iowa Electronic Market (IEM) data. We ask whether markets appear...

We investigate traders’ behaviour in an experimental asset market where uninformed agents cannot be sure about the presence of insiders. In this framework we compare two trading institutions: the continuous double auction and the call market. The purpose of this comparison is to test which of...

Asset market bubbles and crashes are a major source of economic instability and inefficiency. Sometimes ascribed to animal spirits or irrational exuberance, their source remains imperfectly understood. Experimental methods can isolate systematic deviations from an asset's fundamental value in a...

We develop a novel experimental paradigm to study the causal impact of trading algorithms on informational efficiency, liquidity, and welfare. In our design, public information about the asset value is revealed during trading, which gives algorithms a reaction speed advantage. We distinguish...