IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i3p678-d201358.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is Bankruptcy Risk Tied to Corporate Life-Cycle? Evidence from Pakistan

Author

Listed:
  • Ahsan Akbar

    (International Business School, Guangzhou College of South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510080, China)

  • Minhas Akbar

    (Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (Sahiwal Campus), Sahiwal 5700, Pakistan)

  • Wenjin Tang

    (School of Finance, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan 430073, China)

  • Muhammad Azeem Qureshi

    (Oslo Business School, Oslo Metropolitan University, 0130 Oslo, Norway)

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the relationship between bankruptcy risk and the corporate life cycle in Pakistan from 2005 to 2014. For this purpose, we run a Hierarchical Linear Mixed Model (HLM) for a sample of 301 non-financial listed firms in 12 different sectors. The empirical outcomes reveal that firms during introduction, growth and, decline stages (mature stage) of life-cycle experience higher (lower) bankruptcy risk. Moreover, in juxtaposition with growth stage, bankruptcy risk is higher at the introduction stage of life-cycle. These findings suggest that financial managers should be cautious about the financial fragility of the firm at each stage of corporate life-cycle. The results also entail that Pakistani firms do not follow a sequential pattern in their life-cycle, rather they have the tendency to revert to a previous stage or jump to the next stage of life-cycle. This is the first study that empirically examines the association between firm life-cycle stage and corresponding bankruptcy risk and asserts that managers must incorporate the life-cycle effects into their financial planning and decision making for the sustainable working of an enterprise.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahsan Akbar & Minhas Akbar & Wenjin Tang & Muhammad Azeem Qureshi, 2019. "Is Bankruptcy Risk Tied to Corporate Life-Cycle? Evidence from Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-22, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:3:p:678-:d:201358
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/3/678/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/3/678/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mattia Iotti & Giuseppe Bonazzi, 2018. "Analysis of the Risk of Bankruptcy of Tomato Processing Companies Operating in the Inter-Regional Interprofessional Organization “OI Pomodoro da Industria Nord Italia”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-23, March.
    2. Chittenden, Francis & Hall, Graham & Hutchinson, Patrick, 1996. "Small Firm Growth, Access to Capital Markets and Financial Structure: Review of Issues and an Empirical Investigation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 59-67, February.
    3. Lemmon, Michael L. & Zender, Jaime F., 2010. "Debt Capacity and Tests of Capital Structure Theories," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(5), pages 1161-1187, October.
    4. N. Berger, Allen & F. Udell, Gregory, 1998. "The economics of small business finance: The roles of private equity and debt markets in the financial growth cycle," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 613-673, August.
    5. Mueller, Dennis C, 1972. "A Life Cycle Theory of the Firm," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 199-219, July.
    6. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 43-58, January.
    7. Roxana Mihet, 2013. "Effects of culture on firm risk-taking: a cross-country and cross-industry analysis," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 37(1), pages 109-151, February.
    8. Danny Miller & Peter H. Friesen, 1984. "A Longitudinal Study of the Corporate Life Cycle," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(10), pages 1161-1183, October.
    9. Almamy, Jeehan & Aston, John & Ngwa, Leonard N., 2016. "An evaluation of Altman's Z-score using cash flow ratio to predict corporate failure amid the recent financial crisis: Evidence from the UK," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 278-285.
    10. Robert E. Quinn & Kim Cameron, 1983. "Organizational Life Cycles and Shifting Criteria of Effectiveness: Some Preliminary Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(1), pages 33-51, January.
    11. Lin Tian & Liang Han & Song Zhang, 2015. "Business Life Cycle and Capital Structure: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 23(2), pages 22-39, March.
    12. Ľuboš Pástor & Veronesi Pietro, 2003. "Stock Valuation and Learning about Profitability," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(5), pages 1749-1789, October.
    13. Khan, Mozaffar & Watts, Ross L., 2009. "Estimation and empirical properties of a firm-year measure of accounting conservatism," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2-3), pages 132-150, December.
    14. Bixia Xu, 2007. "Life cycle effect on the value relevance of common risk factors," Review of Accounting and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(2), pages 162-175, May.
    15. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Habib, Ahsan, 2017. "Firm life cycle and idiosyncratic volatility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 164-175.
    16. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2002. "Market Timing and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 1-32, February.
    17. Sean Cleary, 1999. "The Relationship between Firm Investment and Financial Status," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 673-692, April.
    18. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Stulz, Rene M., 2006. "Dividend policy and the earned/contributed capital mix: a test of the life-cycle theory," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 227-254, August.
    19. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:5:p:1749-1790 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Rose-Ackerman, Susan, 1991. "Risk Taking and Ruin: Bankruptcy and Investment Choice," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(2), pages 277-310, June.
    21. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Hossain, Mahmud & Cheung, Adrian (Wai-Kong) & Habib, Ahsan, 2015. "Corporate life cycle and cost of equity capital," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 46-60.
    22. Jonathan Levie & Benyamin B. Lichtenstein, 2010. "A Terminal Assessment of Stages Theory: Introducing a Dynamic States Approach to Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(2), pages 317-350, March.
    23. Koh, SzeKee & Durand, Robert B. & Dai, Lele & Chang, Millicent, 2015. "Financial distress: Lifecycle and corporate restructuring," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 19-33.
    24. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    25. 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.
    26. Hui Hu & Milind Sathye, 2015. "Predicting Financial Distress in the Hong Kong Growth Enterprises Market from the Perspective of Financial Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-15, January.
    27. Boot, Arnoud W A & Thakor, Anjan V, 1994. "Moral Hazard and Secured Lending in an Infinitely Repeated Credit Market Game," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 35(4), pages 899-920, November.
    28. Baixauli-Soler, J. Samuel & Belda-Ruiz, Maria & Sanchez-Marin, Gregorio, 2015. "Executive stock options, gender diversity in the top management team, and firm risk taking," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 451-463.
    29. Sanghyo Lee & Yonghan Ahn & Sungwoo Shin, 2016. "The Impact of Multinational Business Diversification on the Financial Sustainability of Construction Firms in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-14, October.
    30. 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.
    31. Zmijewski, Me, 1984. "Methodological Issues Related To The Estimation Of Financial Distress Prediction Models," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22, pages 59-82.
    32. Kose John & Lubomir Litov & Bernard Yeung, 2008. "Corporate Governance and Risk‐Taking," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1679-1728, August.
    33. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:3:p:1131-1147 is not listed on IDEAS
    34. Anthony, Joseph H. & Ramesh, K., 1992. "Association between accounting performance measures and stock prices : A test of the life cycle hypothesis," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2-3), pages 203-227, August.
    35. Natalia Mokhova & Marek Zinecker, 2013. "Liquidity, probability of bankruptcy and the corporate life cycle: the evidence from Czech Republic," International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 5(3), pages 189-208.
    36. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda, 1990. "Dividend Policy and Financial Distress: An Empirical Investigation of Troubled NYSE Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(5), pages 1415-1431, December.
    37. Li, Kai & Griffin, Dale & Yue, Heng & Zhao, Longkai, 2013. "How does culture influence corporate risk-taking?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 1-22.
    38. Grabowski, Henry G & Mueller, Dennis C, 1975. "Life-Cycle Effects on Corporate Returns on Retentions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 57(4), pages 400-409, November.
    39. Daniel Bryan & Guy Dinesh Fernando & Arindam Tripathy, 2013. "Bankruptcy risk, productivity and firm strategy," Review of Accounting and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(4), pages 309-326, October.
    40. Gustavo Grullon & Roni Michaely & Bhaskaran Swaminathan, 2002. "Are Dividend Changes a Sign of Firm Maturity?," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(3), pages 387-424, July.
    41. Gort, Michael & Klepper, Steven, 1982. "Time Paths in the Diffusion of Product Innovations," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 92(367), pages 630-653, September.
    42. Birger Wernerfelt, 1985. "The Dynamics of Prices and Market Shares Over the Product Life Cycle," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(8), pages 928-939, August.
    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. Pavol Durana & Lucia Michalkova & Andrej Privara & Josef Marousek & Milos Tumpach, 2021. "Does the life cycle affect earnings management and bankruptcy?," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 12(2), pages 425-461, June.
    2. Ammar Hussain & Minhas Akbar & Muhammad Kaleem Khan & Ahsan Akbar & Mirela Panait & Marian Catalin Voica, 2020. "When Does Earnings Management Matter? Evidence across the Corporate Life Cycle for Non-Financial Chinese Listed Companies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Minhas Akbar & Ahsan Akbar & Muhammad Umar Draz, 2021. "Global Financial Crisis, Working Capital Management, and Firm Performance: Evidence From an Islamic Market Index," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, May.
    4. Sang-Lyul Ryu & Jayoun Won, 2022. "The Value Relevance of Operational Innovation: Insights from the Perspective of Firm Life Cycle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, February.
    5. Zanxin Wang & Minhas Akbar & Ahsan Akbar, 2020. "The Interplay between Working Capital Management and a Firm’s Financial Performance across the Corporate Life Cycle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-16, February.
    6. Jiangming Ma & Di Gao, 2023. "The Impact of Sustainable Supply-Chain Partnership on Bank Loans: Evidence from Chinese-Listed Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-25, March.
    7. Shahzad, Farrukh & Fareed, Zeeshan & Wang, Zhenkun & Shah, Syed Ghulam Meran, 2020. "Do idiosyncratic risk, market risk, and total risk matter during different firm life cycle stages?," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 537(C).
    8. ElBannan, Mona A., 2021. "On the prediction of financial distress in emerging markets: What matters more? Empirical evidence from Arab spring countries," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    9. Yanting Jing & Wei Zhang & Yongjun Tang & Yuzi Zhang, 2022. "The Construction of an Evaluation System of Corporate Social Responsibility to Employees: An Empirical Study in the Chinese Clothing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-16, August.
    10. Minhas Akbar & Ahsan Akbar & Petra Maresova & Minghui Yang & Hafiz Muhammad Arshad, 2020. "Unraveling the Bankruptcy Risk‒Return Paradox across the Corporate Life Cycle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-19, April.
    11. Shahzad, Farrukh & Ahmad, Munir & Fareed, Zeeshan & Wang, Zhenkun, 2022. "Innovation decisions through firm life cycle: A new evidence from emerging markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 51-67.
    12. Bilal Ahmed & Minhas Akbar & Tanazza Sabahat & Saqib Ali & Ammar Hussain & Ahsan Akbar & Xie Hongming, 2020. "Does Firm Life Cycle Impact Corporate Investment Efficiency?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.

    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. Minhas Akbar & Ahsan Akbar & Petra Maresova & Minghui Yang & Hafiz Muhammad Arshad, 2020. "Unraveling the Bankruptcy Risk‒Return Paradox across the Corporate Life Cycle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-19, April.
    2. ElBannan, Mona A., 2021. "On the prediction of financial distress in emerging markets: What matters more? Empirical evidence from Arab spring countries," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    3. Chen, Kuan-Hau & Su, Xuan-Qi & Lin, Li-Feng & Shih, Yi-Cheng, 2021. "Profitability of moving-average technical analysis over the firm life cycle: Evidence from Taiwan," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    4. Habib, Ahsan & Hasan, Mostafa Monzur, 2019. "Corporate life cycle research in accounting, finance and corporate governance: A survey, and directions for future research," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 188-201.
    5. Shahzad, Farrukh & Fareed, Zeeshan & Wang, Zhenkun & Shah, Syed Ghulam Meran, 2020. "Do idiosyncratic risk, market risk, and total risk matter during different firm life cycle stages?," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 537(C).
    6. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Cheung, Adrian (Wai-Kong), 2018. "Organization capital and firm life cycle," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 556-578.
    7. Kathleen Bakarich & Jiaxin Liu & Joseph Weintrop, 2021. "At what life-cycle stage does the auditors’ going concern report add value?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1129-1157, April.
    8. Ahsan Habib & Mostafa Monzur Hasan, 2017. "Firm life cycle, corporate risk-taking and investor sentiment," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(2), pages 465-497, June.
    9. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Hossain, Mahmud & Cheung, Adrian (Wai-Kong) & Habib, Ahsan, 2015. "Corporate life cycle and cost of equity capital," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 46-60.
    10. Muhammad Atif & Benjamin Liu & Sivathaasan Nadarajah, 2022. "The effect of corporate environmental, social and governance disclosure on cash holdings: Life‐cycle perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2193-2212, July.
    11. Bravo Sergio, 2019. "The Corporate Life Cycle and the Cost of Equity," Journal of Business Valuation and Economic Loss Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, February.
    12. Muhammad Ramzan & Wee‐Yeap Lau, 2023. "Impact of asset preferences on firm performance over its life cycle: Is agency theory or neo‐classical theory more relevant?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 595-607, January.
    13. Ahsan Habib & Md. Borhan Uddin Bhuiyan & Mostafa Monzur Hasan, 2018. "Firm life cycle and advisory directors," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 43(4), pages 575-592, November.
    14. Bilal Ahmed & Minhas Akbar & Tanazza Sabahat & Saqib Ali & Ammar Hussain & Ahsan Akbar & Xie Hongming, 2020. "Does Firm Life Cycle Impact Corporate Investment Efficiency?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    15. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Habib, Ahsan, 2017. "Firm life cycle and idiosyncratic volatility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 164-175.
    16. Nguyen-Quynh-Nhu Ngo & Cam-Nguyen Nguyen & Nguyen-Nhu-Ngoc Ngo & Thanh-Khang Nguyen, 2024. "The influence of firm life cycle on firm risk-taking: evidence of Vietnam," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 71(3), pages 691-726, September.
    17. Bikki Jaggi & Alessandra Allini & Raffaela Casciello & Fiorenza Meucci, 2022. "Firm life cycle stages and earnings management," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 1019-1049, October.
    18. Shahzad, Farrukh & Ahmad, Munir & Fareed, Zeeshan & Wang, Zhenkun, 2022. "Innovation decisions through firm life cycle: A new evidence from emerging markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 51-67.
    19. Minhas Akbar & Ahsan Akbar & Muhammad Azeem Qureshi & Petra Poulova, 2021. "Sentiments–Risk Relationship across the Corporate Life Cycle: Evidence from an Emerging Market," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-17, August.
    20. Laarni Bulan & Zhipeng Yan, 2010. "Firm Maturity and the Pecking Order Theory," International Journal of Business and Economics, School of Management Development, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, vol. 9(3), pages 179-200, December.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:3:p:678-:d:201358. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.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.