This study explores the effect of cross-sectional and time-series differences in financial reporting attributes on the predictive ability of financial ratios for bankruptcy. We identify proxies for discretion over financial reporting, the importance of intangible assets, and the effects of...

This study explores the effect of cross- sectional and time-series differences in financial reporting attributes on the predictive ability of financial ratios for bankruptcy. We identify proxies for discretion over financial reporting, the importance of intangible assets, and the effects of...

We document that firms reporting small positive earnings significantly understate the loss reserve accrual. Our findings also indicate that earnings management is not concentrated in these firms, but is pervasive across the entire earnings distribution. Consistent with income smoothing, the...

Using a sample of banks, this study examines the capital market pricing implications of three components of loan fair values. We find that the nondiscretionary component is priced on a dollar-for-dollar basis, the discretionary component is assigned a significantly larger multiple and the noise...

We examine bankruptcy within business groups. Groups have incentives to support financially distressed subsidiaries as the bankruptcy of a subsidiary may impose severe costs on the group as a whole. In several countries around the world, bankruptcy courts often “pierce the corporate veil”...

Using a large sample of business groups from more than one hundred countries around the world, we show that group information matters for parent and subsidiary default prediction. Group firms may support each other when in financial distress. Potential group support represents an off-balance...