Research Catalog

Title

Struggle and survival on Wall Street : the economics of competition among securities firms / John O. Matthews.

Author

Matthews, John O.

Publication

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 1994.

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Holdings

Details

Description

xiii, 271 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

• U.S. securities firms are the most competitive in the world and are now facing challenges posed by the internationalization of securities markets. To remain competitive in this ever-changing environment, some of these firms have evolved into dynamic international financial services firms offering investors and corporate clients increasingly diverse services.
• Struggle and Survival on Wall Street: The Economics of Competition Among Securities Firms provides a timely and comprehensive economic analysis of competition among securities firms. John Matthews uses an industrial organization approach to analyze the interaction of the industry's structure, conduct and performance. To beat the competition and meet the needs of their customers, he argues, firms develop new financial products, some of which become new lines of business.
• The most important decisions firms make concern the methods of entry into these lines of business. Those firms that successfully innovate and adapt their organizations are in the best position to deal with both domestic and international competition.
• The regulatory framework of the industry is vital to its growth and Matthews makes insightful and realistic policy recommendations which urge regulators, particularly the Securities and Exchange Commission, to provide for a framework in which organizational change can take place.
• This book is unique in that it is the first comprehensive study of securities firms (or broker-dealers) from an industrial organization perspective. It will be of great interest to economists interested in industrial organization, finance and financial institutions, and money and banking, financial services professionals, the securities bar, as well as students of financial services and general readers interested in investing.

Subject

Securities industry > United States

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Contents

1. Introduction -- 2. Accelerating Change, 1980-1992 -- 3. An Overview of the Securities Industry -- 4. The Legislative Framework -- 5. The Safety and Soundness of Broker-Dealers: The Net Capital Rule -- 6. Principal-Agent Problems in the Securities Industry -- 7. Characteristics of Demand -- 8. Costs and Entry Barriers in the Securities Industry -- 9. Mergers, Concentration, and Multiproduct Economies of Scale and Scope -- 10. Securities Brokerage Pricing -- 11. Market Making, Proprietary Trading, and Derivatives -- 12. Investment Banking -- 13. Competition Through Innovation -- 14. Diversification by Securities Firms -- 15. Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and Salomon Brothers Adapt -- 16. Competition in the International Securities Markets -- 17. Performance of the Securities Industry -- 18. Policy Implications and Recommendations.

ISBN

0195050630 (alk. paper)

LCCN

93000098

OCLC

• 27379843
• ocm27379843

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries