The Structural Evolution of Stock Exchanges

The increasing competition between stock exchanges forces them to opt for different strategies to maintain competitiveness (demutualization, consolidations, and partnerships). Given the importance of these phenomena, a large amount of the research literature focuses on these strategic decisions. However, significantly less interest is drawn to the internal organization of stock exchanges. The financial environment has considerably affected them, leading stock exchanges to redefine their roles and to rethink their management strategies. Rather than considering the stock exchange as a nonprofit organization, this paper considers it as a for-profit firm, focuses on the structural evolution of these exchanges/firms and explores their organizational structure. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]