Indirect Financial Distress Costs: Evidence from Trading and Services Sector

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide a quantitative estimate of the indirect financial distress costs. This paper focuses on the Malaysian trading and services sector and concentrates only on measuring the financial distress costs in terms of changes in operating performance and changes in capital values. This study will contribute to the existing literature by providing an alternative proxy for indirect financial distress costs and perhaps the first paper to provide the quantitative estimate of the costs for Malaysia’s financially distressed firms. Findings from our study suggest that indirect costs exist and are found to be between 3.1 and 21.39 %. In addition to that, this paper also provides an empirical support that the indirect financial distress costs increase and become apparent as the firms near financial distress.