They acted as insurance agents for other investors. If reporters do not cry when Allstate reimburses victims of fire, they should not shed tears for companies who sold derivatives and lost. This chapter cites exhaustive evidence that the rise of derivatives has not made stock markets more volatile. The listing options on Canadian stocks has no effect on the volatility of the returns of their stocks or on their trading volume. Chapter 2 asks whether the rise of institutional investors has made stock markets impatient and myopic.
Some critics maintain that institutions are only out for a fast buck.
Professors Johnson and Pazderka show evidence to the contrary. Stock markets reward companies that take the long view. This means that stock market investors recognize the importance of taking time to develop a product and are willing to put their capital behind projects that may not show an immediate profit. In Chapter 3 of their book, Professors Johnson and Pazderka suggest that mergers and takeovers of companies listed on stock exchanges help to make those companies efficient. A company is usually taken over because investors on the outside suspect that the company is badly run, or that its full potential is not being realized.