IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/jecper/v10y1996i3p135-52.html

Some searches may not work properly. We apologize for the inconvenience.

   My bibliography  Save this article

Market Microstructure and Intermediation

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel F. Spulber

Abstract

This paper emphasizes the important role played by intermediaries in the economy, including wholesalers, retailers, and financial firms. The paper defines an intermediary as an economic agent that purchases from suppliers for resale to buyers or that helps buyers and sellers meet and transact. Intermediaries coordinate transactions and provide the institutions of exchange that constitute market microstructure. Intermediaries set prices, manage inventories, coordinate exchange, and provide information through guarantees and delegated monitoring. These crucial activities help to explain how markets attain equilibrium prices and quantities. The paper suggests that the study of intermediation should be incorporated into mainstream economic analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel F. Spulber, 1996. "Market Microstructure and Intermediation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 135-152, Summer.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:10:y:1996:i:3:p:135-52
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.10.3.135
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.10.3.135
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Spulber, Daniel F., 1985. "Risk sharing and inventories," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 55-68, March.
    2. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    3. Carlton, Dennis W, 1991. "The Theory of Allocation and Its Implications for Marketing and Industrial Structure: Why Rationing Is Efficient," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(2), pages 231-262, October.
    4. Cohen, Kalman J & Maier, Steven F & Schwartz, Robert A & Whitcomb, David K, 1981. "Transaction Costs, Order Placement Strategy, and Existence of the Bid-Ask Spread," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(2), pages 287-305, April.
    5. Benston, George J. & Hagerman, Robert L., 1974. "Determinants of bid-asked spreads in the over-the-counter market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(4), pages 353-364, December.
    6. Copeland, Thomas E & Galai, Dan, 1983. "Information Effects on the Bid-Ask Spread," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 38(5), pages 1457-1469, December.
    7. 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.
    8. Myerson, Roger B. & Satterthwaite, Mark A., 1983. "Efficient mechanisms for bilateral trading," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 265-281, April.
    9. Clower, Robert & Leijonhufvud, Axel, 1975. "The Coordination of Economic Activities: A Keynesian Perspective," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 65(2), pages 182-188, May.
    10. Ariel Rubinstein & Asher Wolinsky, 1987. "Middlemen," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 102(3), pages 581-593.
    11. Ho, Thomas & Stoll, Hans R., 1981. "Optimal dealer pricing under transactions and return uncertainty," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 47-73, March.
    12. Stephen D. Williamson, 1987. "Costly Monitoring, Loan Contracts, and Equilibrium Credit Rationing," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 102(1), pages 135-145.
    13. Ho, Thomas & Stoll, Hans R, 1980. "On Dealer Markets under Competition," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 35(2), pages 259-267, May.
    14. Robert J. Barro, 1972. "A Theory of Monopolistic Price Adjustment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 39(1), pages 17-26.
    15. Douglas W. Diamond, 1984. "Financial Intermediation and Delegated Monitoring," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 51(3), pages 393-414.
    16. Carlton, Dennis W, 1986. "The Rigidity of Prices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(4), pages 637-658, September.
    17. Cecchetti, Stephen G., 1986. "The frequency of price adjustment : A study of the newsstand prices of magazines," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 255-274, April.
    18. Mookherjee, Dilip & Reichelstein, Stefan, 1992. "Dominant strategy implementation of Bayesian incentive compatible allocation rules," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 378-399, April.
    19. Chin Lim, 1981. "Risk Pooling and Intermediate Trading Agents," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 14(2), pages 261-275, May.
    20. Amihud, Yakov & Mendelson, Haim, 1980. "Dealership market : Market-making with inventory," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 31-53, March.
    21. Seha M. Tinic, 1972. "The Economics of Liquidity Services," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 86(1), pages 79-93.
    22. Chan, Yuk-Shee, 1983. "On the Positive Role of Financial Intermediation in Allocation of Venture Capital in a Market with Imperfect Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 38(5), pages 1543-1568, December.
    23. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    24. Williamson, Stephen D., 1986. "Costly monitoring, financial intermediation, and equilibrium credit rationing," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 159-179, September.
    25. Logue, Dennis E, 1975. "Market-Making and the Assessment of Market Efficiency," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 30(1), pages 115-123, March.
    26. Stahl, Dale O, II, 1988. "Bertrand Competition for Inputs and Walrasian Outcomes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 189-201, March.
    27. Dennis W. Carlton, 1991. "The Theory of Allocation and Its Implications for Marketing and Industrial Structure," NBER Working Papers 3786, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Yanelle, Marie-Odile, 1989. "The strategic analysis of intermediation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2-3), pages 294-301, March.
    29. Gehrig, Thomas, 1993. "Intermediation in Search Markets," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(1), pages 97-120, Spring.
    30. Krasa, Stefan & Villamil, Anne P., 1992. "Monitoring the monitor: An incentive structure for a financial intermediary," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 197-221.
    31. Yinger, John, 1981. "A Search Model of Real Estate Broker Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(4), pages 591-605, September.
    32. Gary Biglaiser, 1993. "Middlemen as Experts," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(2), pages 212-223, Summer.
    33. Yavas, Abdullah, 1992. "Marketmakers versus matchmakers," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 33-58, March.
    34. Garman, Mark B., 1976. "Market microstructure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 257-275, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Vayanos, Dimitri & Wang, Jiang, 2013. "Market Liquidity—Theory and Empirical Evidence ," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1289-1361, Elsevier.
    2. Christos Giannikos & Hany Guirguis & Tin Shan Suen, 2012. "Modelling the Blind Principal Bid Basket Trading Cost," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 18(2), pages 271-302, March.
    3. Kalaitzoglou, Iordanis Angelos & Ibrahim, Boulis Maher, 2015. "Liquidity and resolution of uncertainty in the European carbon futures market," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 89-102.
    4. Biais, Bruno & Glosten, Larry & Spatt, Chester, 2005. "Market microstructure: A survey of microfoundations, empirical results, and policy implications," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 217-264, May.
    5. Iordanis Angelos Kalaitzoglou & Boulis Maher Ibrahim, 2015. "Liquidity and resolution of uncertainty in the European carbon futures market," Post-Print hal-01107956, HAL.
    6. Gehrig, Thomas & Jackson, Matthew, 1998. "Bid-ask spreads with indirect competition among specialists," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 89-119, April.
    7. Kothare, Meeta, 1997. "The effects of equity issues on ownership structure and stock liquidity: A comparison of rights and public offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 131-148, January.
    8. Dimitri Vayanos & Jiang Wang, 2012. "Market Liquidity -- Theory and Empirical Evidence," NBER Working Papers 18251, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Flannery, Mark J. & Kwan, Simon H. & Nimalendran, M., 2004. "Market evidence on the opaqueness of banking firms' assets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 419-460, March.
    10. Luca Erzegovesi, 2002. "VaR and Liquidity Risk.Impact on Market Behaviour and Measurement Issues," Alea Tech Reports 014, Department of Computer and Management Sciences, University of Trento, Italy, revised 14 Jun 2008.
    11. Suvanto, Antti, 1992. "Pricing decisions and the position constraint in foreign exchange dealing," Research Discussion Papers 27/1992, Bank of Finland.
    12. Jagjeev Dosanjh, 2017. "Exchange Initiatives and Market Efficiency: Evidence from the Australian Securities Exchange," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 1-2017, January-A.
    13. Suvanto, Antti, . "Foreign Exchange Dealing. Essays on the Microstructure of the Foreign Exchange Market," ETLA A, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, number 19.
    14. Ledenyov, Dimitri O. & Ledenyov, Viktor O., 2015. "Wave function method to forecast foreign currencies exchange rates at ultra high frequency electronic trading in foreign currencies exchange markets," MPRA Paper 67470, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Qing-Qing Yang & Jia-Wen Gu & Wai-Ki Ching & Tak-Kuen Siu, 2019. "On Optimal Pricing Model for Multiple Dealers in a Competitive Market," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 53(1), pages 397-431, January.
    16. repec:uts:finphd:34 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Sung‐Hun Kim & Joseph P. Ogden, 1996. "Determinants of the components of bid‐ask spreads on stocks," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 2(1), pages 127-145, March.
    18. repec:zbw:bofrdp:1992_027 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Iraklis Kollias & John Leventides & Vassilios G. Papavassiliou, 2024. "On the solution of games with arbitrary payoffs: An application to an over‐the‐counter financial market," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 1877-1895, April.
    20. Escribano, Álvaro & Tapia, Mikel & Pascual, Roberto, 1999. "How does liquidity behave? A multidimensional analysis of NYSE stocks," DEE - Working Papers. Business Economics. WB 6433, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.
    21. Mazza, Paolo, 2015. "Price dynamics and market liquidity: An intraday event study on Euronext," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 139-153.
    22. Luitgard Veraart, 2010. "Optimal Market Making in the Foreign Exchange Market," Applied Mathematical Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 359-372.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

    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:aea:jecper:v:10:y:1996:i:3:p:135-52. 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: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    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.