Applicability of Scoring Models in Firms' Default Prediction. The Case of Slovakia Cover Image

Využitie skóringových modelov pri predikcii defaultu ekonomických subjektov v Slovenskej republike
Applicability of Scoring Models in Firms' Default Prediction. The Case of Slovakia

Author(s): Matúš Mihalovič
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Economy
Published by: Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze
Keywords: bankruptcy prediction; genetic algorithms; hybrid classifier; neural networks; prediction performance; scoring model; GA-NN model; default; decision trees

Summary/Abstract: Bankruptcy prediction has long been regarded as a critical topic within the academic and banking community. To the best of our knowledge, no previous study in the Slovak Republic has attempted to develop a bankruptcy prediction model putting together statistical and artificial intelligence approaches performed on a such an amount of data. This paper seeks to fill this gap. Our aim is to develop a hybrid bankruptcy prediction model using a genetic algorithm in the process of training a neural network (GA-NN). The research data set comprises a balanced sample of both healthy and bankrupt firms operating in Slovakia in the period from 2014 to 2017. Financial information regarding a firm's financial situation are acquired from the Finstat database, which stores annual reports. For the purpose of comparing the classification accuracy of the proposed GA-NN model, two more models are constructed, namely BP-NN (back-propagation neural network model) as well as MDA (multiple discrimination model). The results gained by utilizing these models suggest the superiority of the developed GA-NN model to both BP-NN and MDA models in terms of prediction performance.

  • Issue Year: 66/2018
  • Issue No: 6
  • Page Range: 689-708
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Slovak