An Analysis of the Effects of a Multi-Tiered Stock Market

A great deal has been written about the existence of a multi-tiered stock market while little is known about the effects [8], Elia [16,17,18,19,20,21,22], Freund [25], Farrar [23], Klemkosky [29,30], Loomis [32], Robbins [47], Rosenberg [48], Seligman [5], Smidt [55], Soldofsky [56], West and Tinic [67], and Schultz [50]). More recent discussions have considered the current nature of the tiered market (Welles [65,66], Carson-Parker [11], Ang [1], Marcial [36,37,38], Lurie [34], Janeway [27], Buhl [10], and Loomis [33]). While changes may have occurred, we believe a tiered market exists and will continue to influence trading and relative pricing (Elia [17,18,19], Marcial [37,38], and Reilly [45]). Because a multi-tiered stock market will probably continue, it becomes important to determine the effects of the tiered market on the securities and firms involved. Specifically, this paper examines common stocks in one of three market tiers (based on various measures of size), in terms of trading activity, price volatility, and financing characteristics during the 15-year period 1964–1978. The total period is divided into three subperiods representing periods of increasing trading activity by institutional investors. Specifically, the first period is generally prior to the institutional impact, the second is a transitional period, and the recent period is when institutions havebecome the dominant trading group.