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Why does a big order get a worse price than a small one?

A retail order for 100100 shares fills right at the quoted price, but an institution trying to move 500,000500{,}000 shares gets a visibly worse average price, and a dealer asked to quote a large block quotes a much wider spread than the screen shows.

Why does size earn a worse price? Tie your explanation to the components of the spread.

Show a hint

Spread = adverse selection + inventory risk + processing costs. Both of the first two scale with order size.

Your answer

This one is open-ended. Work it through, then check your reasoning against the full solution.

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