Dealing with Dynamic Agency

I study the implications of agency frictions for the pricing policy of institutional market makers. In a setting where a market maker cannot observe the actions of an employed trader, I derive the optimal compensation structure and pricing policy. The theory demonstrates that incentive contracting and the price for immediacy are inherently linked. When the trader’s compensation is optimally deferred according to order flow, market making efficiency is improved and the quoted spreads are minimized. In other words, optimizing trader compensation leads to a liquidity gain.