Why Some Commodity (and Financial) Futures Contracts Succeed and Others Fail: A Survey of Relevant Research

Posted: 6 Mar 2015 Last revised: 15 May 2015

See all articles by Hilary Till

Hilary Till

Premia Research LLC; Commodity Insights Digest (a publication of Bayes Business School)

Date Written: October 1, 2014

Abstract

Why do some futures contracts succeed and others fail? Although the U.S. futures markets have evolved in a trial-and-error fashion, a survey of relevant research suggests key elements have determined whether particular futures contracts succeeded or failed. This knowledge could be useful for new financial centers as they build successful futures markets. This paper shows that there are three elements that determine whether a futures contract succeeds or not:

1. There must be a commercial need for hedging; 2. A pool of speculators must be attracted to a market; and 3. Public policy should not be too adverse to futures trading.

Keywords: Commodities, Futures Market, Commodity Regulation, Policy

JEL Classification: G18, N22

Suggested Citation

Till, Hilary, Why Some Commodity (and Financial) Futures Contracts Succeed and Others Fail: A Survey of Relevant Research (October 1, 2014). Forthcoming in the Journal of Alternative Investments, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2573894 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2573894

Hilary Till (Contact Author)

Premia Research LLC ( email )

Chicago, IL
United States
312-583-1137 (Phone)
312-873-3914 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/custom-index-calculations/premia/all/

Commodity Insights Digest (a publication of Bayes Business School) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.bayes-cid.com

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