Price formation in double auction markets

This paper reports 14 laboratory experiments that examine existing theories of the price formation process in the continuous double auction. The experiments feature random values and costs, and therefore a new price formation observation each period. We find that efficiency is high and rises with experience in this environment. We also find that trades with greater exchange surplus tend to occur earlier in the period, that increased trader experience reduces an anomalous intertemporal arbitrage opportunity observed previously, and that only when traders are very experienced does exchange surplus accrue disproportionately to the side of the market with a smaller number of traders.