Price ceilings, market structure, and payout policies

Xiongshi Li, Mao Ye, Miles Zheng

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

To prevent issuers from inflating their share prices, SEC Rule 10b-18 sets price ceilings on share repurchases through open markets. We find that market-structure reforms in the 1990s and 2000s dramatically increased share repurchases because they relaxed constraints on issuers competing with other buyers under price ceilings. The Tick Size Pilot Program, a controlled experiment that partially reversed previous reforms, significantly reduced share repurchases. We estimate that price ceilings and reduced market-structure frictions explain 18% of the secular increase in share repurchases. Meanwhile, these two frictions still exist, which explains why share repurchases have not crowded out dividends entirely.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number103818
JournalJournal of Financial Economics
Volume155
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2024
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Dark Pool
  • Market Structure
  • Queue Competition
  • Regulation
  • Share Repurchase

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Strategy and Management

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