Likelihood Of Financial Distress Research Articles

Does the gender diversity of the Board of Commissioners, Family Ownership, and Institutional Ownership Reduce the Likelihood of Financial Distress During COvid-19?

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the gender diversity of the board of commissioners, family ownership, and institutional ownership on the possible financial distress of Indonesian public manufacturing companies during the COVID-19 pandemic and non-pandemic periods. This study uses logistic regression panel data to determine the effect of the three aspects of Corporate Governance (CG) studied on financial distress. A total of 648 company-year observations from 108 companies during the period 2017-2022 were used in the analysis. Research findings indicate that in non-pandemic periods, family ownership has a positive effect on financial distress, but the positive effect decreases during pandemic periods. Institutional ownership has a negative influence in the non-pandemic period and that influence has not changed during the pandemic period. Meanwhile, the gender diversity of the board of commissioners does not affect financial distress in either the pandemic period or the non-pandemic period. This report provides insights for company management and regulators in developing CG mechanisms, especially related to the board of commissioners' gender diversity, family ownership, and institutional ownership.

A proposed multidimensional model for predicting financial distress: an empirical study on Egyptian listed firms

Although there has been a growing interest by researchers worldwide over the past decades to identify the factors pertaining to corporate financial distress and to develop financial distress prediction models that serve as early warning signs to the various firm stakeholders, notably to date, studies that were conducted were context specific and cannot be objectively generalized to other countries and rendered mixed inconclusive results. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to thoroughly investigate the factors that affect corporate financial distress in Egypt and to develop a multidimensional financial distress prediction model. Using comprehensive data of EGX100 listed firms, the researcher examines the role played by financial ratios, market-based indicators, macroeconomic factors, and corporate governance mechanisms in modeling corporate financial distress. Empirical results indicate that after controlling for the COVID-19 effects, the most significant financial ratios in predicting corporate financial distress are the working capital to total assets ratio, earnings before interest and taxes to total assets ratio, and the sales to total assets ratio. Such ratios are negatively related to the likelihood of corporate financial distress. However, the market value of equity to total liabilities ratio, and GDP growth rate have a positive impact on the likelihood of financial distress. However, the retained earnings to total assets ratio, the corporate governance mechanisms, the firm market capitalization, the interest rate, and the consumer price index are insignificant in predicting corporate financial distress in the Egyptian context. The resulting model demonstrates outstanding classification accuracy at around 96%.

GENDER DIVERSITY AND FINANCIAL DISTRESS: EVIDENCE FROM NON-FINANCIAL COMPANIES IN INDONESIA

This research aims to empirically test the influence of board gender diversity on the likelihood of financial distress in non-financial companies in Indonesia. The percentage of women on the board of directors and board of commissioners is used as a proxy for the board gender diversity variable. Financial distress is measured using the Altman Z-score ratio. 2553 total observations were used from 2018-2022 to measure the effect of board gender diversity on the likelihood of distress. The results of logistic regression show that the presence of women on the board of directors and board of commissioners reduces the possibility of financial distress. The research results also show that the increase in supervision is directly proportional to the number of members of the board of directors and board of commissioners. The results of these findings can be input for decision makers regarding regulations on the number of women in company top management.

Corporate Governance as Antecedent of Financial Distress: Case Study of Textile Industry of Pakistan

Purpose: The present research studies the effect of corporate governance practices on the level of financial distress of the Textile companies listed at PSX. 
 Design/Methodology: Data from 2019 to 2022 from a sample of 43 companies operating in the weaving, spinning and composite textile industry was assessed in the study. Regression analysis was used to predict the impact of board independence, board size, audit committee independence and duality in the role of CEO and chairman on the financial distress.
 Findings: The findings reveal that board independence, board size and the duality in the role of Chairman and CEO impacts the financial distress level of the companies and that in companies wherein governance structure is strong, the likelihood of financial distress is lower. However, the effect of Audit committee independence is found to be insignificant in this study.
 Originality: This study provides support to the companies in understanding the importance of governance structure and its significance in reducing financial distress level. The findings of the study will be of value to the companies operating in textile sector by enabling them to strengthen their governance structure to address the financial distress situation. Further, this study will help the regulators in drafting the governance requirements for the companies and also educating them about the importance of the latter. In future, other studies using different proxies of corporate governance like gender diversity in the board, number of board meetings and characteristics of audit committee may be conducted..

Can military executives overcome difficulties in corporate value creation? ——Evidence from China

We examine whether military executives have the capacity to handle tough circumstances at a time of COVID-19 pandemic. We find that, firms led by military executives experience less likelihood of financial distress and higher firm value during COVID-19 pandemic. The results are robust to alternative measures of main variables and samples, and to ruling out alternative explanations. This effect is more pronounced for firms with top executives that have longer tenure and higher percentage of ownership, and higher percentage of military executives on top management teams. Further, we also find that executives with military experience improve firm value by adopting proactive strategies, such as diversifying by business segment, strengthening online business and improving cost-efficiency. Our finding suggests the important role of executives' personal traits in leading firms overcome adversity in downturns.

Risk Management Committee Gender and Likelihood of Financial Distress of Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria

This study explores the effect of risk management committee gender diversity on the likelihood of financial distress among listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study utilizes the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018 as an instrumental variable to address endogeneity concerns related to the self-selection of gender diversity on the risk management committee. The dependent variable is the likelihood of financial distress, while the independent variable is the gender composition of the risk management committee. The sample size consists of 12 listed deposit money banks, and the data covers the period from 2017 to 2021. The analysis employs a two-stage regression analysis technique. The findings of this study reveal a significant positive effect of risk management committee gender on the likelihood of financial distress among listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. This suggests that a higher representation of a particular gender in the risk management committee is associated with an increased likelihood of financial distress. The results have important implications for policymakers, regulators, and banking institutions in Nigeria. The study highlights the need to consider gender diversity in risk management committees as a potential driver of financial distress. The findings call for proactive measures to promote a more balanced gender representation and inclusion in corporate decision-making processes within the banking sector. The findings emphasize the significance of gender diversity in risk management practices and provide valuable insights for stakeholders seeking to enhance risk assessment and mitigate the occurrence of financial distress in the banking sector.

The Impact of Corporate Governance Attributes on Financial Distress among the Listed Firms in Pharmaceuticals Industry of Bangladesh

This paper investigates the relationship between corporate governance and the likelihood of financial distress. To evaluate the impact of corporate governance on financial distress, a multiple regression model and longitudinal panel data are used. Corporate governance is determined by the board of directors, audit committee, and ownership structure, whereas the Altman Z-score is used to indicate financial distress. The findings imply that financial distress is influenced by corporate governance variables (board independence, auditor independence, auditor opinion, sponsor directors ownership, and foreign shareholders), and firm-level variables (sales growth, performance, liquidity, firm size)). From an academic standpoint, this paper adds to our understanding of the association between corporate governance practices and the risk of financial distress in emerging markets like Bangladesh. The findings may encourage Bangladeshi listed companies to follow and implement good corporate governance practices, increasing investor, regulator, and stakeholder confidence.

Does corporate social responsibility mediate the relationship between board diversity and financial distress: evidence from an emerging economy?

PurposeThe study hypothesized that the impact of board diversity on financial distress (FD) is not direct but rather mediated by the firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of CSR as a mediator in the board diversity–FD relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe study examined six board diversity dimensions – age, gender, nationality, education and tenure in 81 nonfinancial Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)-listed firms from 2010 to 2021. The CSR engagement of the sample firms is evaluated using a multidimensional financial approach and the likelihood of FD is computed using Altman’s Z-score. The system-generalized method of moments estimator is used to meet the study objectives. In addition, several tests are run to determine the robustness of the study’s findings.FindingsBased on the procedure for mediation analysis outlined by Baron and Kenny (1986), the authors found that CSR is significantly inversely associated with the likelihood of FD. Second, board diversity variables age, gender and national diversity were positively associated with CSR. Third, board age, gender and national diversity are significantly inversely related to FD. Finally, it was found that there is partial mediation between board age diversity and FD, whereas full mediation is shown between board age diversity and FD and between board nationality diversity and FD.Practical implicationsThis study provides practical insights into PSX’s board diversity for companies, regulators and policymakers.Originality/valueThis research studies the connection between board diversity and FD. In addition, the current study extended the analysis by testing for the first time the mediating role of CSR in the diversity–distress relationship, particularly in the context of an emerging economy.

The Comparative Analysis of Financial Distress Precipitating Factors in Islamic Banking in Indonesia and Malaysia Based on Bankometer Variables

This study seeks to identify and compare descriptively the factors that influence the likelihood of financial distress in Indonesian and Malaysian Islamic banking. This study selected some variables and standard ratio values based on the Bankometer model such as Islamic banks’ capital adequacy, leverage level, credit risk, efficiency, and liquidity. The financial ratio data collected from published financial reports from five Indonesian Islamic banks and four Malaysian Islamic banks then analyzed using binary logistic regression. The results indicate that during the observation periods, the capital level (CA and CAR), leverage level (EA), and credit risk (NPF) of Islamic banking in Indonesia and Malaysia met the Bankometer standard. Meanwhile, the liquidity level (LA) of Islamic banks in both countries slightly exceeded the Bankometer's maximum standard, especially before the pandemic period. The findings in this study may enrich the discourse on the factors that trigger possible financial distress in Islamic banking by collaborating with the Bankometer model and binary logistic regression.

Stretch or Suppress: Role of Owners and Nominee Directors in Financial Distress

This study investigates the effect of various firm-level corporate governance mechanisms on the likelihood of financial distress in India. We analyze the competing hypotheses of interest alignment and agency theory, examining how controlling shareholders affect the probability of financial distress. Additionally, we assess the potential impact of institutional investor shareholding and bank-appointed directors on the likelihood of financial distress. Our findings suggest that increasing controlling shareholder ownership decreases the probability of distress. However, the effects of institutional investors and bank-appointed directors vary and also depend on the quantum of shareholding of institutional investors and affiliation with business groups. Our results offer insights into improving governance in economies with higher ownership concentration, weaker institutional frameworks, and greater bank participation in credit facilitation. JEL Codes: G32, G33, G34

Impact of sustainability on financial distress in the air transport industry: the moderating effect of Asia–Pacific

The tremendous impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global aviation industry has led to many cases of airline financial distress and bankruptcy. The Asia–Pacific region (APAC) contains more than half of the world’s population, and its airlines had the highest profit margin of any region. In this study, we investigate whether corporate sustainability practice can reduce the financial distress risk of air carriers, and, if so, what would the effect be in APAC? We first examine the relationship between environmental, social, and governance disclosure and the likelihood of financial distress of airlines as measured by the Altman Z″-score. Second, we analyze the moderating role of being an APAC airline in this relationship. The findings support the claim that implementing environmental actions may increase financial distress risk, and by improving social and governance activities, airlines can mitigate the risk of financial distress. The negative influence of the environmental pillar and the positive influence of the social pillar can be smaller for APAC airlines. Our study provides empirical evidence of the influence of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) on the likelihood of financial distress in the airline industry. Moreover, we analyze the moderating role of being an APAC airline in the relationship between sustainability and financial distress. This study has significant implications for executives, managers, and policymakers in the aviation industry on ESG strategy decisions and the general issue of sustainability.

Do business strategies and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance mitigate the likelihood of financial distress? A multiple mediation model

This study explores the connection between business strategies, ESG performance, and the probability of bankruptcy. Using a sample comprising 1970 U.S. firm-year observations from 2016 to 2020, this study adopts several techniques to achieve its goals, including the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) algorithm and additional analyses. The results demonstrate that a firm with a better cost leadership strategy has higher ESG performance. A sound cost leadership strategy and ESG performance negatively influence a firm’s likelihood of financial distress. Using a mediating analysis model, we also find that financial and ESG performance mediate and mitigate the probability of experiencing financial distress through a cost leadership strategy, indicating that these are essential factors that cannot be ignored when mitigating bankruptcy probability. Financial performance also mediates and mitigates the probability of experiencing financial distress through the ESG path. This study adds to the existing body of knowledge by revealing the role of sound business strategies and ESG performance in mitigating the likelihood of financial distress, an under-explored topic. It also analyzes the mediation roles of financial and ESG performance to provide significant insights to companies' decision-makers in order to support them in their endeavors toward performance improvement and achieving best practices.

Effect of cash flow risk on corporate failures, and the moderating role of earnings management and abnormal compensation

In this study, we find that United States firms' average cash flow risk (CFR) shows a significantly increasing trend over the past four decades or so. This does not portend well considering the significance of cash flows in maintaining a firm's financial health and going concern status. The CFR also increases dramatically for firms approaching financial distress or bankruptcy, suggesting its important role in predicting a firm's failure. Empirically, we find that CFR has a strong positive effect on a firm's financial distress likelihood. We also find that the association between CFR and financial distress is negatively moderated in firms with high earnings management and abnormal compensation. The results suggest that managers in firms with high CFR are more likely to use heuristics in form of earnings management. Thus, supporting the upper echelons theory related to managers under performance pressure. Meanwhile, consistent with the notion in the agency theory that financial incentives serve as effective monitoring mechanisms, compensation packages can incentivize better risk management practices and decrease the likelihood of a firm's failure. Our findings are also robust to alternative definitions of a firm's failure: financial constraints, presumed debt covenant violation and legal bankruptcy filings.

Corporate Governance Practices and Financial Distress: Empirical Evidence from Listed Companies in Sri Lanka

The study aims to investigate the impact of corporate governance on financial distress of listed companies in Sri Lanka. Board size, board composition, CEO duality, board meeting, director ownership, and audit committee size are proxies for corporate governance while financial distress is measured by the Altman Z-score. Altman Z-score measures financial distress inversely and bigger the Z-score indicates the smaller the risk of financial distress. Using hundred and eight individual observations of firms listed in Sri Lanka for the period of 2019 to 2021 and employing fixed effects model, the effect of corporate governance practices on financial distress is evaluated. The results from panel data regression analysis reveal that firms having large number of directors on the board have a low likelihood of financial distress of listed companies in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, when a chief executive officer serves as the chairman of the board at a company, the more likely it is that the company will experience financial distress. But, board composition, audit committee size, board meeting and director ownership have not shown any significant impact on financial distress. The current study also provides evidence that firm-specific characteristics such as firm size, leverage and profitability, could be useful as to determining the likelihood of financial distress. The findings may be of prominence to the academic researchers, practitioners, and regulators who are interested in discovering the quality of corporate governance practices in a developing market and its impact on financial distress.

Does board diversity reduce the likelihood of financial distress in the presence of a powerful Chinese CEO?

PurposeThis paper empirically investigates the impact of board diversity in terms of demographic and cognitive dimensions on financial distress likelihood in an emerging Chinese market to explore whether the Chief Executive Officers' (CEOs) power moderates the relationship between board diversity and the probability of financial distress.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypothesized relationships, demographic diversity through gender, age and nationality, and cognitive diversity through education, expertise and tenure, are taken as independent variables to investigate their impact on the probability of financial distress measured by the Altman China Z score. Data is collected for 13,740 firm-year observations from 2009 to 2018. This study employs panel data regression under fixed effect assumptions. Further, to control the possible endogeneity issue, this study uses a two-step System Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM) model as a robust check.FindingsThe results reveal that board diversity is positively associated with financial distress Z score, suggesting that diverse boards are helpful in reducing the likelihood of financial distress. Moreover, CEO power positively moderates this relationship. It means that board diversity, in the presence of powerful CEOs, is more effective in reducing financial distress likelihood by controlling the wrong financial decisions taken by top executives to reap personal benefits. Further, the robustness model confirms the relationship between board diversity and the probability of financial distress.Originality/valueTo the best of researchers' knowledge, this is one of the earliest studies to investigate board diversity by constructing demographic and cognitive board diversity indexes as a determinant of financial distress likelihood in China. Further, researchers found no study in the literature using CEO power as a contextual variable on the relationship between board diversity and financial distress.

How does corporate social responsibility affect financial distress? The moderating role of corporate governance

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the financial distress (FD) of firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). Furthermore, the moderating effect of corporate governance (CG) on the CSR–distress relationship is investigated in this study.Design/methodology/approachThe final sample of the study includes 117 companies from 2008 to 2021. The sample firms' CSR engagement is assessed using a multidimensional financial approach, and the likelihood of FD is determined using Altman's Z-score. The governance level is measured using the governance index, which includes 29 governance provisions. To achieve the research objectives, the system generalized method of moments estimator is used. Furthermore, several tests are performed to assess the robustness of the study's findings. The analysis was carried out using STATA software version 15.FindingsThe authors find that CSR is significantly inversely related to FD. The governance mechanism was discovered to be inversely related to FD. Furthermore, corporate governance strengthens the negative relationship between CSR and FD. In addition, the authors find that CSR is significantly inversely related to FD in firms with strong CG mechanisms but has no effect on FD in firms with weak CG mechanisms.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study provide policymakers, business managers, regulators and investors with a better understanding of the relationship between the quality of CSR investments and the likelihood of FD in Pakistani firms, as well as the role of CG in this context.Originality/valueThis study contributes to our understanding of the role of CG in the CSR-distress relationship in an emerging market. This suggests that policymakers should prioritize CG quality while anticipating the impact of CSR on corporate FD.

Board structure composition and financial distress likelihood of Indian firms

Board structure composition and financial distress likelihood of Indian firms

Board structure composition and financial distress likelihood of Indian firms

Board structure composition and financial distress likelihood of Indian firms

Estimating the Risk of Financial Distress Using a Multi-Layered Governance Criterion: Insights from Middle Eastern and North African Banks

In this study, we explored the association of bank-level governance and state-level governance with the likelihood of banks’ financial distress in developing economies. Using a panel data sample of 954 bank-year observations of 106 conventional banks across 14 Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries from 2010 to 2018, we found that bank governance arrangements seemed to be negatively attributed to the probability of financial distress. We also found that the relationship of political stability with financial distress prospects is—contrary to our expectation—insignificant, whereas government effectiveness negatively influences the likelihood of financial distress. Our empirical evidence offers practical implications for bank managers, regulators, and credit rating agencies, and suggests several future research avenues that can build on our findings.

Accounting Discretion, Loan Loss Provision in Financial Distress: Evidence from Commercial Banks

Abstract This study explores the association between earning management practices and financial distress in commercial banks. Earning management is measured through discretionary loan loss provisions and non-discretionary loan loss provisions. Modified Altman’s Z-score has been used as a proxy for financial distress. Panel regression with fixed and random effect has been employed for empirical analysis. The study finds a significant positive association between DLLP, NDLLP and financial distress in terms of the Altman Z-score. In the case of NDLLP, liquidity reduces the probability of financial distress. Whereas, a bank’s SIZE, LEVG and AQ enhance the likelihood of financial distress. The robustness tests were applied to find the association between NDLLP and FD using logistic regression to validate baseline estimates results of the random effect model. The findings of this study have implications for the policymakers, regulators and internal stakeholders to devise effective regulatory measures for well-informed investment decisions.