The Law and Economics of Insider Trading

Abstract

Several recent high-profile insider trading losses have not stopped the federal government from aggressively prosecuting insider trading cases. The first of its kind, this law review article offers both a legal analysis and an empirical analysis that would aid the government in detecting and prosecuting insider trading. Specifically, this article finds that insider traders move prices more than non-insider trades of similar characteristics and insiders trade on high-volume days based on a dataset generated from SEC litigation releases.

Keywords: insider trading, white collar crime, SEC, law and economics, criminal law