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The Behavior of Bid-Ask Spreads in the Electronically-Traded Corn Futures Market

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  • Xiaoyang Wang
  • Philip Garcia
  • Scott H. Irwin

Abstract

This is the first paper to analyze liquidity costs in agricultural futures markets based on the observed bid-ask spread (BAS) faced by market participants. The results reveal a highly liquid corn market that mostly offers order execution at minimum cost. The BAS responds negatively to volume and positively to price volatility, but also affects volume traded and price volatility. While statistically significant, these responses on a cents/bushel or a percentage basis are generally small. Liquidity costs are also virtually impervious to short-term changes in demand for spreading and trend-following trader activity, as well as differences from day-of-the-week changes in market activity. Much larger cents/bushel and percentage changes in BAS occur during commodity index trader roll periods and on USDA report release days. The roll period findings indicate a sunshine trading effect, while announcement effects identify the importance of unexpected information and adverse selection on order execution costs. Overall, our research demonstrates that the transition to electronic trading in the corn futures market has led to low and stable liquidity costs, despite the market turbulence in 2008'2009.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaoyang Wang & Philip Garcia & Scott H. Irwin, 2014. "The Behavior of Bid-Ask Spreads in the Electronically-Traded Corn Futures Market," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(2), pages 557-577.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ajagec:v:96:y:2014:i:2:p:557-577.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Indriawan, Ivan & Martinez, Valeria & Tse, Yiuman, 2021. "The impact of the change in USDA announcement release procedures on agricultural commodity futures," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    3. Rashmi Ranjan Paital & Naresh Kumar Sharma, 2016. "Bid-Ask Spreads, Trading Volume and Return Volatility: Intraday Evidence from Indian Stock Market," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 4(1), pages 24-40.
    4. Costa, Geraldo Jr. & Trujillo-Barrera, Andres & Pennings, Joost M.E., 2018. "Concentration and Liquidity Costs in Emerging Commodity Exchanges," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 43(3), September.
    5. Adrian Fernandez‐Perez & Bart Frijns & Ivan Indriawan & Alireza Tourani‐Rad, 2019. "Surprise and dispersion: informational impact of USDA announcements," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 50(1), pages 113-126, January.
    6. Haugom, Erik & Ray, Rina, 2017. "Heterogeneous traders, liquidity, and volatility in crude oil futures market," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 5(C), pages 36-49.
    7. Miao Li & Tao Xiong & Ziran Li, 2023. "A tale of two contracts: Examining the behavior of bid–ask spreads of corn futures in China," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 792-806, June.
    8. Arzandeh, Mehdi & Frank, Julieta, 2017. "The Information Content of the Limit Order Book," 7th Annual Canadian Agri-Food Policy Conference, January 11-13, 2017, Ottawa, ON 253251, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society.
    9. Quanbiao Shang & Mindy Mallory & Philip Garcia, 2018. "The components of the bid†ask spread: Evidence from the corn futures market," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(3), pages 381-393, May.

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