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Bid-Ask Spread, Asymmetric Information and Ultimate Ownership

We collect the ultimate ownership data for the 1,167 Canadian traded corporations, for the 1994-1996 period, to examine the relationship between stock liquidity and ultimate ownership structure. Our results suggest that the presence of family increases the bid-ask spread. In addition, the magnitude of the deviation between ultimate ownership and ultimate control at the presence of families is important in determining the bid-ask spread. Furthermore, we document that mechanisms of enhancing control, say pyramid at the presence of families, significantly affect bid-ask spreads.