This paper uses regulatory data to assess the value of retail order flow in the German equity market. To this end, we examine the performance of specialized retail market makers (RMMs) that internalize a large share of retail activity via affiliated trading venues. We show that retail market...

We analyze how market fragmentation affects market quality of SME and other less actively traded stocks. Compared to large stocks, they are less likely to be traded on multiple venues and show, if at all, low levels of fragmentation. Concerning the impact of fragmentation on market quality, we...

We directly compare retail investor execution costs with exchange execution costs. We find off-exchange retail trades execute at lower effective spreads than comparable exchange trades, primarily due to the uninformed nature of retail trades. These results hold when payment for order flow (PFOF)...

We study the effect of X-Stream, the new trading platform of the Colombian Stock Exchange since February 2009, on the quality of the stock market. Contributing to the literature on market quality, this paper provides novel evidence of the effect of reforms on market design, trading rules and...

Abstract I demonstrate an important tension between acquiring information and incorporating it into asset prices. As a salient case, I analyze the rise of algorithmic trading (AT), which is typically associated with improved price efficiency. Using a new measure of the information content of...

We use a comprehensive panel of NYSE order book data to show that the liquidity and quoting efficiency improvements associated with algorithmic trading (AT) are attributable to enhanced monitoring by liquidity providers. We find that variation in liquidity provider monitoring uniquely explains...

This paper examines unique data on dark pool activity for a large cross-section of US stocks in 2009. Dark pool activity is concentrated in liquid stocks. Nasdaq (AMEX) stocks have significantly higher (lower) dark pool activity than NYSE stocks controlling for liquidity. For a given stock, dark...

Because dividends are taxed at a higher rate than capital gains, as stock with a higher yields should have a higher expected return than a stock whose return is expected to result mostly from price appreciation. Adding yield to the traditional Security Market Line results in a "market plane"...

The paper investigates the relation between retail investors' participation in trading and aggregate stock market liquidity. The findings show a positive and significant relation between retail investors' trading and stock market liquidity. Examination of the determinants of retail investors'...