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Convex Incentives in Financial Markets: an Agent-Based Analysis

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This paper uses agent-based simulation to analyze how financial markets are affected by market participants with convex incentives, e.g. option-like compensation. We document that convex incentives are associated with (i) higher prices, (ii) larger variations of prices, and (iii) larger bid-ask spreads. We conclude that convex incentives may lead to decreased stability of financial markets. Our analysis suggests that the decreased stability is driven by the fact that convex incentives pushes agents towards more extreme decisions. Furthermore, while risk preferences affect agent behavior if they have linear incentives, the effect of risk preferences vanishes with convex incentives.

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  • Annalisa Fabretti & Tommy Gärling & Stefano Herzel & Martin Holmen, 2015. "Convex Incentives in Financial Markets: an Agent-Based Analysis," CEIS Research Paper 337, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 08 Apr 2015.
    • Handle: RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:337
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    incentives; market instability; agent-based simulations.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - General
    • D53 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Financial Markets

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