IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/strimo/v34y2017i1-2p55-67n1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Company rating with support vector machines

Author

Listed:
  • Moro Russ A.

    (Department of Economics and Finance, Brunel University London, UxbridgeUB8 3PH, United Kingdom)

  • Härdle Wolfgang K.

    (Center for Applied Statistics and Economics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Spandauer Str. 1, 10178Berlin, Germany)

  • Schäfer Dorothea

    (German Institute for Economic Research, Mohrenstr. 58, 10117Berlin, Germany)

Abstract

This paper proposes a rating methodology that is based on a non-linear classification method, a support vector machine, and a non-parametric isotonic regression for mapping rating scores into probabilities of default. We also propose a four data set model validation and training procedure that is more appropriate for credit rating data commonly characterised with cyclicality and panel features. Tests on representative data covering fifteen years of quarterly accounts and default events for 10,000 US listed companies confirm superiority of non-linear PD estimation. Our methodology demonstrates the ability to identify companies of diverse credit quality from Aaa to Caa–C.

Suggested Citation

  • Moro Russ A. & Härdle Wolfgang K. & Schäfer Dorothea, 2017. "Company rating with support vector machines," Statistics & Risk Modeling, De Gruyter, vol. 34(1-2), pages 55-67, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:strimo:v:34:y:2017:i:1-2:p:55-67:n:1
    DOI: 10.1515/strm-2012-1141
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/strm-2012-1141
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/strm-2012-1141?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Glennon, Dennis & Nigro, Peter, 2005. "Measuring the Default Risk of Small Business Loans: A Survival Analysis Approach," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(5), pages 923-947, October.
    2. João Fernandes, 2005. "Corporate Credit Risk Modeling: Quantitative Rating System And Probability Of Default Estimation," Finance 0505013, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Engelmann, Bernd & Hayden, Evelyn & Tasche, Dirk, 2003. "Measuring the Discriminative Power of Rating Systems," Discussion Paper Series 2: Banking and Financial Studies 2003,01, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    4. Chen, Andrew H. & Ju, Nengjiu & Mazumdar, Sumon C. & Verma, Avinash, 2006. "Correlated Default Risks and Bank Regulations," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 38(2), pages 375-398, March.
    5. Merton, Robert C, 1974. "On the Pricing of Corporate Debt: The Risk Structure of Interest Rates," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 29(2), pages 449-470, May.
    6. Karatzoglou, Alexandros & Meyer, David & Hornik, Kurt, 2006. "Support Vector Machines in R," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 15(i09).
    7. de Leeuw, Jan & Hornik, Kurt & Mair, Patrick, 2009. "Isotone Optimization in R: Pool-Adjacent-Violators Algorithm (PAVA) and Active Set Methods," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 32(i05).
    8. Martens, David & Baesens, Bart & Van Gestel, Tony & Vanthienen, Jan, 2007. "Comprehensible credit scoring models using rule extraction from support vector machines," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 183(3), pages 1466-1476, December.
    9. Duan, Jin-Chuan & Sun, Jie & Wang, Tao, 2012. "Multiperiod corporate default prediction—A forward intensity approach," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 170(1), pages 191-209.
    10. Edward I. Altman, 1968. "Financial Ratios, Discriminant Analysis And The Prediction Of Corporate Bankruptcy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 589-609, September.
    11. Martin, Daniel, 1977. "Early warning of bank failure : A logit regression approach," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 249-276, November.
    12. Edward I. Altman, 1968. "The Prediction Of Corporate Bankruptcy: A Discriminant Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(1), pages 193-194, March.
    13. Ohlson, Ja, 1980. "Financial Ratios And The Probabilistic Prediction Of Bankruptcy," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 109-131.
    14. Mark J Manning, 2004. "Exploring the relationship between credit spreads and default probabilities," Bank of England working papers 225, Bank of England.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wosnitza, Jan Henrik, 2022. "Calibration alternatives to logistic regression and their potential for transferring the dispersion of discriminatory power into uncertainties of probabilities of default," Discussion Papers 04/2022, Deutsche Bundesbank.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Härdle, Wolfgang Karl & Prastyo, Dedy Dwi & Hafner, Christian, 2012. "Support vector machines with evolutionary feature selection for default prediction," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2012-030, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    2. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2012-030 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Zhou, Fanyin & Fu, Lijun & Li, Zhiyong & Xu, Jiawei, 2022. "The recurrence of financial distress: A survival analysis," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 1100-1115.
    4. Enrique Batiz‐Zuk & Fabrizio López‐Gallo & Abdulkadir Mohamed & Fátima Sánchez‐Cajal, 2022. "Determinants of loan survival rates for small and medium‐sized enterprises: Evidence from an emerging economy," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 4741-4755, October.
    5. Xu, Si & He, Xiaoyi & Cao, Chunfang, 2023. "Struggle for survival in credit crunch: The effect of interest rate deregulation in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    6. Asis, Gonzalo & Chari, Anusha & Haas, Adam, 2021. "In search of distress risk in emerging markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    7. Wolfgang Härdle & Yuh-Jye Lee & Dorothea Schäfer & Yi-Ren Yeh, 2009. "Variable selection and oversampling in the use of smooth support vector machines for predicting the default risk of companies," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(6), pages 512-534.
    8. Aggarwal, Nidhi & Singh, Manish K. & Thomas, Susan, 2023. "Do decreases in Distance-to-Default predict rating downgrades?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    9. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2008-005 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. En-Der Su & Shih-Ming Huang, 2010. "Comparing Firm Failure Predictions Between Logit, KMV, and ZPP Models: Evidence from Taiwan’s Electronics Industry," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 17(3), pages 209-239, September.
    11. Mohammad Mahdi Mousavi & Jamal Ouenniche & Kaoru Tone, 2023. "A dynamic performance evaluation of distress prediction models," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(4), pages 756-784, July.
    12. Abinzano, Isabel & Gonzalez-Urteaga, Ana & Muga, Luis & Sanchez, Santiago, 2020. "Performance of default-risk measures: the sample matters," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    13. Anand Deo & Sandeep Juneja, 2021. "Credit Risk: Simple Closed-Form Approximate Maximum Likelihood Estimator," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 69(2), pages 361-379, March.
    14. Zhang, Xuan & Ouyang, Ruolan & Liu, Ding & Xu, Liao, 2020. "Determinants of corporate default risk in China: The role of financial constraints," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 87-98.
    15. Ijaz Hussain, 2013. "Estimating Firms’ Vulnerability to Short-Term Financing Shocks: The Case of Foreign Exchange Companies in Pakistan," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 18(2), pages 147-163, July-Dec.
    16. Moro, Russ & Härdle, Wolfgang Karl & Aliakbari, Saeideh & Hoffmann, Linda, 2011. "Forecasting corporate distress in the Asian and Pacific region," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2011-023, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    17. Alexandros Benos & George Papanastasopoulos, 2005. "Extending the Merton Model: A Hybrid Approach to Assessing Credit Quality," Finance 0505020, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 18 Nov 2005.
    18. Anand Deo & Sandeep Juneja, 2019. "Credit Risk: Simple Closed Form Approximate Maximum Likelihood Estimator," Papers 1912.12611, arXiv.org.
    19. Aggarwal, Nidhi & Singh, Manish K. & Thomas, Susan, 2023. "Do decreases in Distance-to-Default predict rating downgrades?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    20. Zhou Lu & Zhuyao Zhuo, 2021. "Modelling of Chinese corporate bond default – A machine learning approach," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(5), pages 6147-6191, December.
    21. Hyeongjun Kim & Hoon Cho & Doojin Ryu, 2020. "Corporate Default Predictions Using Machine Learning: Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-11, August.
    22. Wolfgang Härdle & Yuh-Jye Lee & Dorothea Schäfer & Yi-Ren Yeh, 2007. "The Default Risk of Firms Examined with Smooth Support Vector Machines," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 757, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:strimo:v:34:y:2017:i:1-2:p:55-67:n:1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.