Insider Trading

What exactly is wrong with insider trading? Is it unfair? Is it inefficient? Does it undermine the securities markets or distort the incentives of corporate managers to maximize the value of shares? This volume argues that the only coherent rationale for regulating such trading constitutes the theft of corporate assets. Insider trading cannot constitute theft of corporate assets if such trading is conducted with the permission of the firm that owns the information. The author argues that regulation of the practice should be left to intrafirm contract.