Is Artificial Intelligence Really More Accurate in Predicting Bankruptcy?

Stanislav Letkovský, Sylvia Jenčová and Petra Vašaničová ()
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Stanislav Letkovský: Faculty of Management and Business, University of Presov, 080 01 Presov, Slovakia
Sylvia Jenčová: Faculty of Management and Business, University of Presov, 080 01 Presov, Slovakia
Petra Vašaničová: Faculty of Management and Business, University of Presov, 080 01 Presov, Slovakia

IJFS, 2024, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Predicting bankruptcy within selected industries is crucial because of the potential ripple effects and unique characteristics of those industries. It serves as a risk management tool, guiding various stakeholders in making decisions. While artificial intelligence (AI) has shown high success rates in classification tasks, it remains uncertain whether its use significantly enhances the potential for early warning of impending problems. The following question arises: will classical methods eventually replace the effectiveness of these advanced techniques? This paper sheds light on the fact that even classical methods continue to achieve results that are not far behind, highlighting their enduring importance in financial analysis. This paper aims to develop bankruptcy prediction models for the chemical industry in Slovakia and to compare their effectiveness. Predictions are generated using the classical logistic regression (LR) method as well as AI techniques, artificial neural networks (ANNs), support vector machines (SVMs), and decision trees (DTs). The analysis aims to determine which of the employed methods is the most efficient. The research sample consists of circa 600 enterprises operating in the Slovak chemical industry. The selection of eleven financial indicators used for bankruptcy prediction was grounded in prior research and existing literature. The results show that all of the explored methods yielded highly similar outcomes. Therefore, determining the clear superiority of any single method is a difficult task. This might be partially due to the potentially reduced quality of the input data. In addition to classical statistical methods employed in econometrics, there is an ongoing development of AI-based models and their hybrid forms. The following question arises: to what extent can these newer approaches enhance accuracy and effectiveness?

Keywords: bankruptcy; prediction; logistic regression; artificial intelligence; artificial neural networks; support vector machine; decision tree (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F2 F3 F41 F42 G1 G2 G3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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