ABSTRACT In this paper, I explore a reform at the Oslo Stock Exchange to assess the causal effect of posttrade trader anonymity on stock liquidity and trading volume. Using a regression discontinuity approach, I find that anonymity leads to a reduction in bid‐ask spreads of 40% and an increase in trading volume of more than 50%. The increase in trading volume is accounted for largely by increased trading activity by institutional investors, while retail investors do not adjust their trading behavior in response to anonymity. The results suggest that posttrade anonymity positively affects standard measures of market quality.

Abstract Using procurement auctions and register data, we find that temporary demand shocks have long-term effects for startups. Startups that win a procurement auction have 20% higher sales and employment and are more profitable than startups that narrowly lose an auction, even several years after the contract work has ended. There are no such effects for mature firms. The effects for startups are large: about 50% of the contract value is transmitted into long-term sales. Our analysis suggests learning-by-doing as a plausible mechanism. Overall, our results point to the importance of path dependence in shaping the long-term outcomes of startups. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online

Abstract We explore the effects of a “tick size war” in which European trading venues directly competed on the minimum pricing increment in the limit order book, the tick size. We find that venues that reduced their tick size immediately captured market shares of both quoted and executed volume from the exchanges that kept their ticks large. We find that tick size competition improves market quality, reducing trading costs, and increasing market-wide depth and volume. These market quality improvements are strongest in stocks where the bid–ask spread was constrained to one tick, where liquidity providers use the finer pricing grid to engage in price competition.

ABSTRACT We study the effects of broadband internet use on the investment decisions of individual investors. A public program in Norway provides plausibly exogenous variation in internet use. Our instrumental variables estimates show that internet use causes a substantial increase in stock market participation, driven primarily by increased fund ownership. Existing investors tilt their portfolios toward funds, thereby obtaining more diversified portfolios and higher Sharpe ratios, and do not increase their trading activity in stocks. Overall, access to high‐speed internet spurs a “democratization of finance,” with individuals making investment decisions that are more in line with the advice from portfolio theory.