Determinants of Volume in Dark Pool Crossing Networks

70 Pages Posted: 17 Mar 2009 Last revised: 17 Apr 2014

See all articles by Mark Ready

Mark Ready

University of Wisconsin Madison

Date Written: August 16, 2014

Abstract

I investigate determinants of trading volume for NASDAQ stocks in the two largest “dark pools” that cater to large institutional trades: Liquidnet and POSIT. I find that these dark pools capture a lower faction of institutional volume for stocks with higher levels of adverse selection, which is consistent with the prediction from Zhu (2013), but inconsistent with the prediction from Ye (2011). Orders in stocks with higher percentage spreads are less likely to be routed to these dark pools, which is consistent with the predictions from Zhu (2013) and Buti et al (2011a) but inconsistent with the predictions from Hendershott and Mendelson (2000) and Degryse et al. (2009). I also show that usage of these dark pools is lower for stocks with the lowest dollar spreads per share, which is consistent with trader routing of these stocks to other venues in order to satisfy soft-dollar agreements.

Keywords: Microstructure, Liquidity, Trading Volume, Simulated Method of Moments

JEL Classification: G12, G14

Suggested Citation

Ready, Mark, Determinants of Volume in Dark Pool Crossing Networks (August 16, 2014). AFA 2010 Atlanta Meetings Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1361234 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1361234

Mark Ready (Contact Author)

University of Wisconsin Madison ( email )

5274B Grainger Hall
975 University Ave
Madison, WI 53706
United States
6082625226 (Phone)