The Difference a Day Makes: Timely Disclosure and Trading Efficiency in the Muni Market

Abstract

The Real-Time Transaction Reporting System (RTRS) reduced the delay in reporting municipal bond trades from one-day to 15 min. We find a significant reduction in secondary market trading costs after the introduction of the RTRS. Our estimates imply that retail investors benefited primarily from reduced dealer intermediation costs, while large trades benefited from reductions in bargaining costs. Bonds experienced increases in trading volume across the liquidity spectrum. We find higher dealer capital commitment, longer intermediation chains, and fewer pre-arranged trades, all suggesting increased market-making incentives for dealers. These results are largely consistent with predictions from search-based models.

Department(s)

Business and Information Technology

Keywords and Phrases

Market Making; Municipal Market; Trading Volume; Transaction Costs; Transparency

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0304-405X

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2021 Elsevier, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 2021

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