IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finmar/v13y2010i1p20-48.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Option market liquidity: Commonality and other characteristics

Author

Listed:
  • Cao, Melanie
  • Wei, Jason

Abstract

This study examines option market liquidity using Ivy DB's OptionMetrics data. We establish convincing evidence of commonality for various liquidity measures based on the bid-ask spread, volumes, and price impact. The commonality remains strong even after controlling for the underlying stock market's liquidity and other liquidity determinants such as volatility. Smaller firms and firms with a higher volatility exhibit stronger commonalities in option liquidity. Aside from commonality, we also uncover several other important properties of the option market's liquidity. First, information asymmetry plays a much more dominant role than inventory risk as a fundamental driving force of liquidity. Second, the market-wide option liquidity is closely linked to the underlying stock market's movements. Specifically, the options liquidity responds asymmetrically to upward and downward market movements, with calls reacting more in up markets and puts reacting more in down markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Cao, Melanie & Wei, Jason, 2010. "Option market liquidity: Commonality and other characteristics," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 20-48, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finmar:v:13:y:2010:i:1:p:20-48
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1386-4181(09)00050-0
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Acharya, Viral V. & Pedersen, Lasse Heje, 2005. "Asset pricing with liquidity risk," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 375-410, August.
    2. Jun Pan & Allen M. Poteshman, 2006. "The Information in Option Volume for Future Stock Prices," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(3), pages 871-908.
    3. Menachem Brenner & Rafi Eldor & Shmuel Hauser, 2001. "The Price of Options Illiquidity," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(2), pages 789-805, April.
    4. David Easley & Soeren Hvidkjaer & Maureen O'Hara, 2002. "Is Information Risk a Determinant of Asset Returns?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(5), pages 2185-2221, October.
    5. Lee, Charles M C & Mucklow, Belinda & Ready, Mark J, 1993. "Spreads, Depths, and the Impact of Earnings Information: An Intraday Analysis," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(2), pages 345-374.
    6. Tarun Chordia & Richard Roll & Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, 2001. "Market Liquidity and Trading Activity," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(2), pages 501-530, April.
    7. Korajczyk, Robert A. & Sadka, Ronnie, 2008. "Pricing the commonality across alternative measures of liquidity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 45-72, January.
    8. Young-Hye Cho & Robert F. Engle, 1999. "Modeling the Impacts of Market Activity on Bid-Ask Spreads in the Option Market," NBER Working Papers 7331, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Brockman, Paul & Chung, Dennis Y. & Pérignon, Christophe, 2009. "Commonality in Liquidity: A Global Perspective," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(4), pages 851-882, August.
    10. U. Çetin & R. Jarrow & P. Protter & M. Warachka, 2008. "Pricing Options in an Extended Black Scholes Economy with Illiquidity: Theory and Empirical Evidence," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Financial Derivatives Pricing Selected Works of Robert Jarrow, chapter 9, pages 185-221, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    11. Josef Lakonishok & Inmoo Lee & Neil D. Pearson & Allen M. Poteshman, 2007. "Option Market Activity," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(3), pages 813-857.
    12. Pastor, Lubos & Stambaugh, Robert F., 2003. "Liquidity Risk and Expected Stock Returns," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(3), pages 642-685, June.
    13. Domowitz, Ian & Hansch, Oliver & Wang, Xiaoxin, 2005. "Liquidity commonality and return co-movement," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 351-376, November.
    14. 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.
    15. Joel Fabre & Alex Frino, 2004. "Commonality in liquidity: Evidence from the Australian Stock Exchange," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 44(3), pages 357-368, November.
    16. Vijh, Anand M, 1990. "Liquidity of the CBOE Equity Options," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1157-1179, September.
    17. Umut Çetin & Robert A. Jarrow & Philip Protter, 2008. "Liquidity risk and arbitrage pricing theory," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Financial Derivatives Pricing Selected Works of Robert Jarrow, chapter 8, pages 153-183, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    18. Deuskar, Prachi & Gupta, Anurag & Subrahmanyam, Marti G., 2011. "Liquidity effect in OTC options markets: Premium or discount?," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 127-160, February.
    19. Sadka, Ronnie, 2006. "Momentum and post-earnings-announcement drift anomalies: The role of liquidity risk," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 309-349, May.
    20. Barclay, Michael J. & Warner, Jerold B., 1993. "Stealth trading and volatility : Which trades move prices?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 281-305, December.
    21. Amihud, Yakov, 2002. "Illiquidity and stock returns: cross-section and time-series effects," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 31-56, January.
    22. Chordia, Tarun & Roll, Richard & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, 2000. "Commonality in liquidity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 3-28, April.
    23. Kaushik I. Amin & Charles M. C. Lee, 1997. "Option Trading, Price Discovery, and Earnings News Dissemination," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(2), pages 153-192, June.
    24. Diamond, Douglas W & Verrecchia, Robert E, 1991. "Disclosure, Liquidity, and the Cost of Capital," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(4), pages 1325-1359, September.
    25. Fama, Eugene F & MacBeth, James D, 1973. "Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 607-636, May-June.
    26. Kyle, Albert S, 1985. "Continuous Auctions and Insider Trading," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 53(6), pages 1315-1335, November.
    27. David Easley & Maureen O'Hara & P.S. Srinivas, 1998. "Option Volume and Stock Prices: Evidence on Where Informed Traders Trade," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(2), pages 431-465, April.
    28. Diamond, Douglas W. & Verrecchia, Robert E., 1987. "Constraints on short-selling and asset price adjustment to private information," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 277-311, June.
    29. Easley, David & O'Hara, Maureen, 1992. "Time and the Process of Security Price Adjustment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 576-605, June.
    30. Huberman, Gur & Halka, Dominika, 2001. "Systematic Liquidity," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 24(2), pages 161-178, Summer.
    31. Coughenour, Jay F. & Saad, Mohsen M., 2004. "Common market makers and commonality in liquidity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 37-69, July.
    32. Paul Brockman & Dennis Y. Chung, 2002. "Commonality in Liquidity: Evidence from an Order‐Driven Market Structure," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 25(4), pages 521-539, December.
    33. Hasbrouck, Joel & Seppi, Duane J., 2001. "Common factors in prices, order flows, and liquidity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 383-411, March.
    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. Peter Christoffersen & Ruslan Goyenko & Kris Jacobs & Mehdi Karoui, 2018. "Illiquidity Premia in the Equity Options Market," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(3), pages 811-851.
    2. 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.
    3. Bai, Min & Qin, Yafeng, 2015. "Commonality in liquidity in emerging markets: Another supply-side explanation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 90-106.
    4. Lin, Zih-Ying & Chang, Chuang-Chang & Wang, Yaw-Huei, 2018. "The impacts of asymmetric information and short sales on the illiquidity risk premium in the stock option market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 152-165.
    5. Joanna Olbrys, 2019. "Intra-market commonality in liquidity: new evidence from the Polish stock exchange," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 14(2), pages 251-275, June.
    6. Moshirian, Fariborz & Qian, Xiaolin & Wee, Claudia Koon Ghee & Zhang, Bohui, 2017. "The determinants and pricing of liquidity commonality around the world," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 22-41.
    7. 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.
    8. Choy, Siu Kai & Wei, Jason, 2020. "Liquidity risk and expected option returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    9. Syamala, Sudhakar Reddy & Reddy, V. Nagi & Goyal, Abhinav, 2014. "Commonality in liquidity: An empirical examination of emerging order-driven equity and derivatives market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 317-334.
    10. Hadhri, Sinda & Ftiti, Zied, 2019. "Commonality in liquidity among Middle East and North Africa emerging stock markets: Does it really matter?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 43(3).
    11. Karolyi, G. Andrew & Lee, Kuan-Hui & van Dijk, Mathijs A., 2012. "Understanding commonality in liquidity around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 82-112.
    12. Sensoy, Ahmet, 2017. "Firm size, ownership structure, and systematic liquidity risk: The case of an emerging market," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 62-80.
    13. Rösch, Christoph G. & Kaserer, Christoph, 2013. "Market liquidity in the financial crisis: The role of liquidity commonality and flight-to-quality," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2284-2302.
    14. Rösch, Christoph G. & Kaserer, Christoph, 2014. "Reprint of: Market liquidity in the financial crisis: The role of liquidity commonality and flight-to-quality," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 152-170.
    15. Saad, Mohsen & Samet, Anis, 2020. "Collectivism and commonality in liquidity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 137-162.
    16. Li, Xiafei & Luo, Di, 2019. "Financial constraints, stock liquidity, and stock returns," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    17. Sensoy, Ahmet, 2019. "Commonality in ask-side vs. bid-side liquidity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 198-207.
    18. Banti, Chiara & Phylaktis, Kate & Sarno, Lucio, 2012. "Global liquidity risk in the foreign exchange market," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 267-291.
    19. Pan, Deng & Shi, Jing & Wu, Fei & Zhang, Bohui, 2015. "Investor heterogeneity and commonality in stock return and liquidity," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 458-473.
    20. Richard G. Anderson & Jane M. Binner & Björn Hagströmer & Birger Nilsson, 2013. "Does commonality in illiquidity matter to investors?," Working Papers 2013-020, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

    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:eee:finmar:v:13:y:2010:i:1:p:20-48. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/finmar .

    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.