Index providers: Whales behind the scenes of ETFs
研究发现指数提供商在ETF市场拥有强大市场力量，收取高额许可费，占ETF费用比率的三分之一以上，改善竞争可降低ETF费用率高达30%。
Most ETFs replicate indexes licensed by index providers. We show that index providers wield strong market power and charge large markups to ETFs that are passed on to investors. We document three stylized facts: (i) the index provider market is highly concentrated; (ii) investors care about the identities of index providers, although they explain little variation in ETF returns; and (iii) over one-third of ETF expense ratios are paid as licensing fees to index providers. A structural decomposition attributes 60% of licensing fees to index providers’ markups. Counterfactual analyses show that improving competition among index providers reduces ETF expense ratios by up to 30%.