Securities markets are among the most heavily regulated sectors of the economy in developed nations. The Economics of Securities Regulation: A Survey gives an overview of the U.S. regulatory system, explores the justifications for regulating securities markets, and describes the qualitative and quantitative literature that assesses the regulatory system’s effectiveness. The monograph draws on the literature on the role of information in securities markets. Although detailed examples of regulatory provisions will be drawn from the U.S. securities laws, many of them have close analogues in other countries.
The Economics of Securities Regulation: A Survey focuses initially on mandatory disclosure, which is the most important feature of U.S. securities regulation. It then provides brief reviews of other specific regulatory categories, including regulation of public offerings, publicly-traded companies, trading markets, securities fraud, insider trading, market manipulation, and mutual funds and other collective investment vehicles. The monograph considers throughout whether the regulatory system can outperform litigation under the ordinary rules of property, contract, agency, and fraud, taking the costs of each system into account.