Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

12-2004

Abstract

Recent studies show that decimal pricing led to significant reductions in the spread and depth on the NYSE. In this paper, we examine how the observed changes in the spread and depth can be attributed to different factors. We show that stocks with higher proportions of one-tick spreads and odd-sixteenth quotes, and more frequent trading before decimalization experienced larger declines in the spread and depth afterwards. We interpret this result as evidence of reduced binding constraints and increased price competition under decimal pricing. We also find that decimal pricing led to nontrivial changes in select stock attributes, and that these changes exerted an additional impact on spreads and depths. Our results suggest that sub-penny pricing may further reduce the spreads of high-volume, low-risk, or low-price stocks.

Keywords

Binding constraint, tick size, stepping ahead, spreads, depths, decimal pricing

Discipline

Business | Finance and Financial Management | Portfolio and Security Analysis

Research Areas

Finance

Publication

Journal of Banking and Finance

Volume

28

Issue

12

First Page

2981

Last Page

3007

ISSN

0378-4266

Identifier

10.1016/j.jbankfin.2003.11.001

Publisher

Elsevier

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2003.11.001

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