Price Transparency

Price transparency refers to the ease with which consumers can obtain detailed price and market information of different products. It enables consumers to compare costs and make informed choices. Hence, it is a primary factor affecting market efficiency.

In financial markets, participants usually seek information regarding the ask price, trading volume, and bid price of financial assets, goods, and services. It helps them know their real value, thereby influencing their actual demand and supply. But such information is available at a cost. Therefore, markets where information is available easily and at a low cost are considered efficient and free.

• Price transparency reveals the degree of pricing information available to buyers and sellers in a market.
• It ensures healthy competition, efficient markets, and better pricing of products.
• Transparency in stock trading means market participants have full knowledge about the price and volume of trading stocks.
• Pre-trade and post-trade information is important for assuring transparency in the securities market.
• The internet has revolutionized price transparency in recent times.

In economics, price transparency is the degree of openness in terms of product prices that a market offers to its participants. It lets them know the price of different goods and services before buying them.

Price transparency helps maintain healthy competition as consumers can contrast the prices of various products. As a result, it lowers the search costs for consumers and creates a healthy space for discovering desirable goods. Moreover, it ensures buyers that there is no price discrimination. 

Besides being beneficial to the buyers, price transparency enables sellers  to set prices confidently. They can practice conscious parallelism, which means charging prices that are in tandem with their competitors. However, transparency can also lead sellers to resort to anti-competitive coordination to induce price rise artificially. This could harm buyers.

Price transparency can be seen in different markets like business, real estate, healthcare, stock, etc. Of late internet has emerged as a key tool for price transparency. It offers instant access to information related to any market. Thus, it has transformed the landscape of markets, making them more efficient.

Price transparency is a broad term used in capital markets that encompasses disseminating all the data related to stocks and bonds to the public. It ensures that all investors have the same information to make trading decisions.

To ensure transparency, stock markets must reveal all relevant information related to the price of securities, their trading volume, trader identity, and risks involved to the investors.

• Trader identity reveals the identity of the person who executes a trade.
• Ask price is the price at which the seller agrees to sell the securities.
• Trading quantities can be seen as the total volume of securities traded.
• Bid price is the price at which the buyer agrees to buy the securities.

The above information helps the traders to have full knowledge of all transactions taking place in a market, the actual value of the securities traded, and their demand and supply.

Furthermore, rules governing financial reporting laid down by the US Securities and Exchange Commission encourage transparency in the capital markets. It ensures that market participants have access to reliable information, including financial reports of public limited companies whose stocks are being traded.

#1 - Pre-Trade Information

Pre-trade information is all the information related to executable quotes and current trading orders before the transaction. Such information is accessible until trading occurs. It helps traders to choose the best price.

#2 - Post-Trade Information

Post-trade information is the category of information available to the traders after a securities transaction has been completed. Stock markets must report the necessary information on a timely basis so that traders can benefit from it.

Traders base their decision on both pre- and post-trade information. Such information sharing contributes to price transparency in stock markets.

Let us understand the concept of price transparency better through the examples given below.

Example #1

The last decade has witnessed the tremendous rise of e-commerce. Price transparency is one of the major influencing factors in their rise. E-commerce platforms have lowered the search cost for the buyer and, at the same time, offered greater variety. 

Buyers feel that online platforms provide them with all requisite information about different products. This gives them greater bargaining power and places them in a better position. Price transparency is also good for sellers as satisfied buyers tend to bring back more business to them in the future.

Amazon has taken advantage of the price transparency of its e-commerce platform to create an image of the company as the cheapest destination. As a result, customers compare prices of similar products from numerous sellers and feel that they get a better deal on Amazon. Thus, Amazon has emerged as a global e-commerce giant.

Example #2

NASDAQ has always ensured that all the information related to stock trading is publicly available on its exchange. For instance, NASDAQ’s order book allows traders to see orders in real time and predict the future price movements based on the bids and asks placed. This helps them to time their trade well.

NASDAQ TotalView provides information about every quote and order placed at every price. As a result, investors get the level of insight needed to maximize their returns on trading. Thus, NASDAQ advocates and practices transparency in listed securities in its exchange through TotalView.

This has been a Guide to Price Transparency & its Definition. We discuss the concept of price transparency with examples in capital markets & e-commerce. You may also have a look at the following articles to learn more –

• Hedge Fund Risks
• Secondary Market
• Market Efficiency