This paper analyzes brief episodes of high-intensity quotes turnover and revision-"bursts" in quotes-in the U.S. equity market. Such events occur very frequently, several hundred times a day for actively traded stocks. We find significant price impact associated with these market makers...

Do competition and incentives offered to designated market makers (DMMs) improve market liquidity? Using data from NYSE Euronext Paris, we show that an exogenous increase in competition among DMMs leads to a significant decrease in quoted and effective spreads, mainly through a reduction in...