Discussion paper

DP2889 Limit Order Book as a Market for Liquidity

We develop a dynamic model of an order-driven market populated by discretionary liquidity traders. These traders must trade, yet can choose the type of order and are fully strategic in their decision. Traders differ in their impatience: less patient traders demand liquidity, more patient traders provide it. Three equilibrium patterns are obtained, and these patterns are determined by three parameters: the degree of impatience on the part of patient traders, which we model as the cost of execution delay in providing liquidity; their proportion in the population, which determines the degree of competition among the liquidity providers; and the tick size, which is the cost of the minimal price improvement. Despite its simplicity, the model generates a rich set of empirical predictions on the relation between market parameters, time to execution, and spreads.

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Citation

Foucault, T, E Kandel and O Kadan (2001), ‘DP2889 Limit Order Book as a Market for Liquidity‘, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 2889. CEPR Press, Paris & London. https://cepr.org/publications/dp2889