Modele dyskryminacyjne jako instrument oceny zagrożenia upadłością przedsiębiorstw

Abstract

In Poland, the interest in discriminatory models dates back to 1994 (26 years after the publication of the assumptions of the E. Altman model). The aim of the research was an attempt to critically evaluate, in terms of methodology, the phenomenon of using discriminatory models in the procedure of examining the financial condition of enterprises. The article also attempts to evaluate the state of research in the national literature concerning the subject of discriminatory methods in assessing the financial condition and risk of bankruptcy of enterprises. In the literature, it is still noted that discriminatory methods, from a methodological point of view are unjustifiably described as having a timeless value and sectoral universality. An attempt was made to verify two research theses: the frequency of using particular discriminatory models in the national literature on the subject is not equivalent to a hierarchy of their diagnostic reliability and the discriminatory models do not have the value of sectoral universality. Critical reference was made to numerous cases of simplifications and methodological errors occurring in the national literature on the subject. The research included 132 Polish discriminatory models, the methodological assumptions of which were published in the years 1994–2020, however, for 102 models, the teaching population does not exceed 100 entities. Only in three studies were the number of enterprises higher than 1,000 (they ranged from 1,353 to 11,000). Numerous errors and methodological simplifications have been shown in attempts to apply this method, which reduces the diagnostic credibility of the obtained results, and in extreme cases even disqualifies them. This paradox was also pointed out, as numerous studies have shown that Polish enterprises do not use modern methods of bankruptcy forecasting, or they only apply them sporadically. In the surveyed population of 132 discriminatory models, the most common are the current liquidity ratio (50 models), the rate of return on investment (34), the total debt ratio (31), the asset turnover ratio (29), the ratio of financing assets with working capital (21) and the ratio of financing liabilities with a financial surplus (20).