IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/empleg/v17y2020i2p262-316.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Subsidizing Liquidity with Wider Ticks: Evidence from the Tick Size Pilot Study

Author

Listed:
  • Robert P. Bartlett
  • Justin McCrary

Abstract

Using data from the 2016–2018 Tick Size Pilot Study, we examine the efficacy of using wider tick sizes to subsidize market‐making in small capitalization stocks. We demonstrate that realized spreads decay quickly within the initial microseconds of a trade. The effect reduces the subsidy offered by wider tick sizes, particularly for non‐HFT market makers. The profit subsidy from wider tick sizes is also compromised by a significant shift in trading to “taker/maker” exchanges and to midpoint trading in non‐exchange venues. The pilot's exception for midpoint trades also accounts for the fact that nearly a third of trading remains in non‐exchange venues despite the inclusion of a trade‐at rule. Overall, these findings point to considerable inefficiencies in the pilot study's goal of using wider tick sizes to subsidize liquidity provision in small capitalization stocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert P. Bartlett & Justin McCrary, 2020. "Subsidizing Liquidity with Wider Ticks: Evidence from the Tick Size Pilot Study," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 262-316, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:empleg:v:17:y:2020:i:2:p:262-316
    DOI: 10.1111/jels.12252
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jels.12252
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jels.12252?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, April.
    2. Craig W. Holden & Stacey Jacobsen, 2014. "Liquidity Measurement Problems in Fast, Competitive Markets: Expensive and Cheap Solutions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(4), pages 1747-1785, August.
    3. Angel, James J, 1997. "Tick Size, Share Prices, and Stock Splits," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 655-681, June.
    4. Kees Jan Van Garderen & Chandra Shah, 2002. "Exact interpretation of dummy variables in semilogarithmic equations," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 5(1), pages 149-159, June.
    5. Bacidore, Jeffrey & Battalio, Robert H. & Jennings, Robert H., 2003. "Order submission strategies, liquidity supply, and trading in pennies on the New York Stock Exchange," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 337-362, May.
    6. Glosten, Lawrence R. & Milgrom, Paul R., 1985. "Bid, ask and transaction prices in a specialist market with heterogeneously informed traders," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 71-100, March.
    7. Kee H. Chung & Bonnie F. Van Ness & Robert A. Van Ness, 2004. "Trading Costs And Quote Clustering On The Nyse And Nasdaq After Decimalization," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 27(3), pages 309-328, September.
    8. Griffith, Todd G. & Roseman, Brian S., 2019. "Making cents of tick sizes: The effect of the 2016 U.S. SEC tick size pilot on limit order book liquidity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 104-121.
    9. Jinyong Hahn, 1998. "On the Role of the Propensity Score in Efficient Semiparametric Estimation of Average Treatment Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(2), pages 315-332, March.
    10. Lee, Charles M C & Ready, Mark J, 1991. "Inferring Trade Direction from Intraday Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(2), pages 733-746, June.
    11. Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Nonparametric Estimation of Average Treatment Effects Under Exogeneity: A Review," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 4-29, February.
    12. Benjamin M. Blau & Bonnie F. Van Ness & Robert A. Van Ness, 2012. "Trade Size And Price Clustering: The Case Of Short Sales And The Suspension Of Price Tests," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 35(2), pages 159-182, June.
    13. James J. Angel & Lawrence E. Harris & Chester S. Spatt, 2015. "Equity Trading in the 21st Century: An Update," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 5(01), pages 1-39.
    14. Bessembinder, Hendrik, 2003. "Trade Execution Costs and Market Quality after Decimalization," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(4), pages 747-777, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jose S. Penalva & Mikel Tapia, 2021. "Heterogeneity and Competition in Fragmented Markets: Fees Vs Speed," Applied Mathematical Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 143-177, March.
    2. Sean Foley & Tom G Meling & Bernt Arne Ødegaard, 2023. "Tick Size Wars: The Market Quality Effects of Pricing Grid Competition," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 27(2), pages 659-692.
    3. Li, Dan & Xia, Ying, 2021. "Gauging the effects of stock liquidity on earnings management: Evidence from the SEC tick size pilot test," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xin Zhao & Kee H. Chung, 2006. "Decimal Pricing and Information‐Based Trading: Tick Size and Informational Efficiency of Asset Price," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5‐6), pages 753-766, June.
    2. Suchismita Mishra & Le Zhao, 2021. "Order Routing Decisions for a Fragmented Market: A Review," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-32, November.
    3. Griffith, Todd & Roseman, Brian & Shang, Danjue, 2020. "The effects of an increase in equity tick size on stock and option transaction costs," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    4. Rösch, Dominik M. & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar & van Dijk, Mathijs A., 2022. "Investor short-termism and real investment," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 59(PB).
    5. Zeynep Cobandag Guloglu & Cumhur Ekinci, 2022. "Liquidity measurement: A comparative review of the literature with a focus on high frequency," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 41-74, February.
    6. Murphy Jun Jie Lee, 2013. "The Microstructure of Trading Processes on the Singapore Exchange," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 2-2013, January-A.
    7. Albuquerque, Rui & Song, Shiyun & Yao, Chen, 2017. "The Price Effects of Liquidity Shocks: A Study of SEC’s Tick-Size Experiment," CEPR Discussion Papers 12486, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Saunders, Anthony & Shao, Pei & Xiao, Yuchao, 2024. "Private information disclosure in the secondary loan market and its impact on equity market trading costs," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    9. Boehmer, Ekkehart, 2005. "Dimensions of execution quality: Recent evidence for US equity markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(3), pages 553-582, December.
    10. Murphy Jun Jie Lee, 2013. "The Microstructure of Trading Processes on the Singapore Exchange," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 4, July-Dece.
    11. Jiang, Christine X. & Kim, Jang-Chul & Wood, Robert A., 2009. "Adverse selection costs for NASDAQ and NYSE after decimalization," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 205-211, September.
    12. Craig W. Holden & Stacey Jacobsen & Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, 2014. "The Empirical Analysis of Liquidity," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 8(4), pages 263-365, December.
    13. Albuquerque, Rui & Song, Shiyun & Yao, Chen, 2020. "The price effects of liquidity shocks: A study of the SEC’s tick size experiment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(3), pages 700-724.
    14. Bill Hu & Joon Ho Hwang & Christine Jiang, 2014. "The Impact of Earnings Guidance Cessation on Information Asymmetry," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1-2), pages 73-99, January.
    15. Chakrabarty, Bidisha & Cox, Justin & Upson, James E., 2022. "Tick Size Pilot Program and price discovery in U.S. stock markets," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 59(PB).
    16. Portniaguina, Evgenia & Bernhardt, Dan & Hughson, Eric, 2006. "Hybrid markets, tick size and investor trading costs," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 433-447, November.
    17. Doureige J. Jurdi, 2020. "Intraday Jumps, Liquidity, and U.S. Macroeconomic News: Evidence from Exchange Traded Funds," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-19, June.
    18. Doan, Bao & Vo, Duc Hong, 2021. "Is there any information content of traded stocks in an emerging market? Evidence from Vietnam," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 78-87.
    19. Boulatov, Alex & Hatch, Brian C. & Johnson, Shane A. & Lei, Adam Y.C., 2009. "Dealer attention, the speed of quote adjustment to information, and net dealer revenue," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1531-1542, August.
    20. Cipriani, Marco & Guarino, Antonio & Uthemann, Andreas, 2022. "Financial transaction taxes and the informational efficiency of financial markets: A structural estimation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(3), pages 1044-1072.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:empleg:v:17:y:2020:i:2:p:262-316. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1740-1461 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.