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Taking the Twists into Account: Predicting Firm Bankruptcy Risk with Splines of Financial Ratios

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Paolo Giordani ,
Tor Jacobson ,
Erik von Schedvin  and
Mattias Villani
Paolo Giordani
Affiliation:
p-giordani@hotmail.com, Research Division, Sveriges Riksbank, Stockholm, SE-103 37, Sweden
Tor Jacobson
Affiliation:
tor.jacobson@riksbank.se, Research Division, Sveriges Riksbank, Stockholm, SE-103 37, Sweden
Erik von Schedvin
Affiliation:
erik.vonschedvin@riksbank.se, Research Division, Sveriges Riksbank, Stockholm, SE-103 37, Sweden
Mattias Villani
Affiliation:
mattias.villani@liu.se, Division of Statistics, Linköping University, Linköping, 581 83, Sweden.
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Abstract

We demonstrate improvements in predictive power when introducing spline functions to take account of highly nonlinear relationships between firm failure and leverage, earnings, and liquidity in a logistic bankruptcy model. Our results show that modeling excessive nonlinearities yields substantially improved bankruptcy predictions, on the order of 70%–90%, compared with a standard logistic model. The spline model provides several important and surprising insights into nonmonotonic bankruptcy relationships. We find that low-leveraged as well as highly profitable firms are riskier than those given by a standard model, possibly a manifestation of credit rationing and excess cash-flow volatility.

Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis , Volume 49 , Issue 4 , August 2014 , pp. 1071 - 1099
Copyright
Copyright © Michael G. Foster School of Business, University of Washington 2015 

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