We present results from an experiment where participants have access to a set of robots (automated trading algorithms), which they may deploy, launch, halt and replace at will, while still trading manually.
While algorithmic trading now dominates financial markets, some exchanges continue to use human floor traders. On March 23, 2020 the NYSE suspended floor trading because of COVID-19. Using a difference-in-differences analysis around the closure of the floor, we find that floor traders are important contributors to market quality.