"Since 1970 there have been three major changes in the commission fee structure for stock transactions in the United States. The last change in May, 1975 eliminated all formal fee schedules and dictated that the commission charges on all transactions would be completely negotiated. Many observers have speculated regarding the probable effect of this change to competitive commission on the several regional stock exchanges. This study sets forth the alternative hypotheses in this regard and examines the relative trading volume on the national and regional stock exchanges for the period 1970 through 1977. The results are best described as mixed, but tend to indicate that the regional stock exchanges as a group have survived this period of significant change."