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Working Papers

December 2023, No. 23-13

Dealer Costs and Customer Choice

Lucas B. Dyskant, André C. Silva and Bruno Sultanum

We introduce a model to explain how an increase in intermediation costs leads to structural changes in the corporate bond market. We state three facts on corporate bond markets after the Dodd-Frank act: (1) an increase in customer liquidity provision through prearranged matches, (2) a paradoxical decrease in measured illiquidity, and (3) an increase in the illiquidity component on the yield spread. Investors take longer to finish a trade and require higher illiquidity premium even though measured illiquidity decreased. We introduce a search and matching model which explains these facts. It also suggests the possibility of multiple equilibria and financial instability when dealers face high costs to intermediate transactions.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21144/wp23-13

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