Flexible price limits: The case of Tokyo Stock Exchange

Abstract

Daily price limits are criticized for their role in disrupting price adjustment process. We propose a flexible price limits mechanism as an alternative to daily price limit rules. First, we identify volatility spill-over and consecutive price limit hits as the source for disrupting informed trading. Later, we propose flexible price limits that can be implemented by using predicted probability of volatility spill-over and consecutive price limit hits. We provide empirical evidence in support of flexible price limits’ efficiency by using 5 years intra-day data of stocks listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.