Incorporating textual and management factors into financial distress prediction: A comparative study of machine learning methods

Financial distress prediction (FDP) has been widely considered as a promising approach to reducing financial losses. While financial information comprises the traditional factors involved in FDP, nonfinancial factors have also been examined in recent studies. In light of this, the purpose of this study is to explore the integrated factors and multiple models that can improve the predictive performance of FDP models. This study proposes an FDP framework to reveal the financial distress features of listed Chinese companies, incorporating financial, management, and textual factors, and evaluating the prediction performance of multiple models in different time spans. To develop this framework, this study employs the wrapper-based feature selection method to extract valuable features, and then constructs multiple single classifiers, ensemble classifiers, and deep learning models in order to predict financial distress. The experiment results indicate that management and textual factors can supplement traditional financial factors in FDP, especially textual ones. This study also discovers that integrated factors collected 4 years prior to the predicted benchmark year enable a more accurate prediction, and the ensemble classifiers and deep learning models developed can achieve satisfactory FDP performance. This study makes a novel contribution as it expands the predictive factors of financial distress and provides new findings that can have important implications for providing early warning signals of financial risk.     

A Meta‐learning Framework for Bankruptcy Prediction

The implication of corporate bankruptcy prediction is important to financial institutions when making lending decisions. In related studies, many bankruptcy prediction models have been developed based on some machine‐learning techniques. This paper presents a meta‐learning framework, which is composed of two‐level classifiers for bankruptcy prediction. The first‐level multiple classifiers perform the data reduction task by filtering out unrepresentative training data. Then, the outputs of the first‐level classifiers are utilized to create the second‐level single (meta) classifier. The experiments are based on five related datasets and the results show that the proposed meta‐learning framework provides higher prediction accuracy rates and lower type I/II errors when compared with the stacked generalization classifier and other three widely developed baselines, such as neural networks, decision trees, and logistic regression. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hybridizing kernel‐based fuzzy c‐means with hierarchical selective neural network ensemble model for business failure prediction

More and more ensemble models are used to forecast business failure. It is generally known that the performance of an ensemble relies heavily on the diversity between each base classifier. To achieve diversity, this study uses kernel‐based fuzzy c‐means (KFCM) to organize firm samples and designs a hierarchical selective ensemble model for business failure prediction (BFP). First, three KFCM methods—Gaussian KFCM (GFCM), polynomial KFCM (PFCM), and Hyper‐tangent KFCM (HFCM)—are employed to partition the financial data set into three data sets. A neural network (NN) is then adopted as a basis classifier for BFP, and three sets, which are derived from three KFCM methods, are used to build three classifier pools. Next, classifiers are fused by the two‐layer hierarchical selective ensemble method. In the first layer, classifiers are ranked based on their prediction accuracy. The stepwise forward selection method is employed to selectively integrate classifiers according to their accuracy. In the second layer, three selective ensembles in the first layer are integrated again to acquire the final verdict. This study employs financial data from Chinese listed companies to conduct empirical research, and makes a comparative analysis with other ensemble models and all its component models. It is the conclusion that the two‐layer hierarchical selective ensemble is good at forecasting business failure.     

Predicting multistage financial distress: Reflections on sampling,feature and model selection criteria

This research proposes a prediction model of multistage financial distress (MSFD) after considering contextual and methodological issues regarding sampling, feature and model selection criteria. Financial distress is defined as a three‐stage process showing different nature and intensity of financial problems. It is argued that applied definition of distress is independent of legal framework and its predictability would provide more practical solutions. The final sample is selected after industry adjustments and oversampling the data. A wrapper subset data mining approach is applied to extract the most relevant features from financial statement and stock market indicators. An ensemble approach using a combination of DTNB (decision table and naïve base hybrid model), LMT (logistic model tree) and A2DE (alternative N dependence estimator) Bayesian models is used to develop the final prediction model. The performance of all the models is evaluated using a 10‐fold cross‐validation method. Results showed that the proposed model predicted MSFD with 84.06% accuracy. This accuracy increased to 89.57% when a 33.33% cut‐off value was considered. Hence the proposed model is accurate and reliable to identify the true nature and intensity of financial problems regardless of the contextual legal framework.     

Bayesian Assessment of Dynamic Quantile Forecasts

Bayesian methods for assessing the accuracy of dynamic financial value‐at‐risk (VaR) forecasts have not been considered in the literature. Such methods are proposed in this paper. Specifically, Bayes factor analogues of popular frequentist tests for independence of violations from, and for correct coverage of a time series of, dynamic quantile forecasts are developed. To evaluate the relevant marginal likelihoods, analytic integration methods are utilized when possible; otherwise multivariate adaptive quadrature methods are employed to estimate the required quantities. The usual Bayesian interval estimate for a proportion is also examined in this context. The size and power properties of the proposed methods are examined via a simulation study, illustrating favourable comparisons both overall and with their frequentist counterparts. An empirical study employs the proposed methods, in comparison with standard tests, to assess the adequacy of a range of forecasting models for VaR in several financial market data series. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Long‐term streamflow forecasting using artificial neural network based on preprocessing technique

Artificial neural network (ANN) combined with signal decomposing methods is effective for long‐term streamflow time series forecasting. ANN is a kind of machine learning method utilized widely for streamflow time series, and which performs well in forecasting nonstationary time series without the need of physical analysis for complex and dynamic hydrological processes. Most studies take multiple factors determining the streamflow as inputs such as rainfall. In this study, a long‐term streamflow forecasting model depending only on the historical streamflow data is proposed. Various preprocessing techniques, including empirical mode decomposition (EMD), ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT), are first used to decompose the streamflow time series into simple components with different timescale characteristics, and the relation between these components and the original streamflow at the next time step is analyzed by ANN. Hybrid models EMD‐ANN, EEMD‐ANN and DWT‐ANN are developed in this study for long‐term daily streamflow forecasting, and performance measures root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) indicate that the proposed EEMD‐ANN method performs better than EMD‐ANN and DWT‐ANN models, especially in high flow forecasting.     

Evaluation of the going-concern status for companies: An ensemble framework-based model

Issuing a going-concern opinion is a difficult and complex task for auditors. The auditors have to take into account different critical factors in order to make the right decision based on information obtained from the auditing process. This study adopts the so-called “random forest” approach (based on the ensemble method) to assist auditors in making such a decision. To investigate the corresponding effect of the proposed approach, we conduct a series of experiments and a performance comparison. The results show that the random forest method outperforms the baseline methods in terms of the accuracy rate, ROC area, kappa value, type II error, precision, and recall rate. The proposed approach is proven to be more accurate and stable than previous methods.     

Volatility forecasting for risk management

Recent research has suggested that forecast evaluation on the basis of standard statistical loss functions could prefer models which are sub‐optimal when used in a practical setting. This paper explores a number of statistical models for predicting the daily volatility of several key UK financial time series. The out‐of‐sample forecasting performance of various linear and GARCH‐type models of volatility are compared with forecasts derived from a multivariate approach. The forecasts are evaluated using traditional metrics, such as mean squared error, and also by how adequately they perform in a modern risk management setting. We find that the relative accuracies of the various methods are highly sensitive to the measure used to evaluate them. Such results have implications for any econometric time series forecasts which are subsequently employed in financial decision making. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Neuro‐wavelet Model for the Short‐Term Forecasting of High‐Frequency Time Series of Stock Returns

We propose a wavelet neural network (neuro‐wavelet) model for the short‐term forecast of stock returns from high‐frequency financial data. The proposed hybrid model combines the capability of wavelets and neural networks to capture non‐stationary nonlinear attributes embedded in financial time series. A comparison study was performed on the predictive power of two econometric models and four recurrent neural network topologies. Several statistical measures were applied to the predictions and standard errors to evaluate the performance of all models. A Jordan net that used as input the coefficients resulting from a non‐decimated wavelet‐based multi‐resolution decomposition of an exogenous signal showed a consistent superior forecasting performance. Reasonable forecasting accuracy for the one‐, three‐ and five step‐ahead horizons was achieved by the proposed model. The procedure used to build the neuro‐wavelet model is reusable and can be applied to any high‐frequency financial series to specify the model characteristics associated with that particular series. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting Systemic Risk with Entropic Indicators

This paper concentrates on quantifying the behavioral aspects of systemic risk by using a novel approach based on entropy. More specifically, we study aggregate market expectations and the predictability of systemic risk before and during the financial crisis in 2008. Two underlying signals for estimating entropic risk measures are considered: (i) skewness premium of deepest out‐of‐the‐money options; and (ii) implied volatility ratio in regard to deepest out‐of‐the‐money options. The findings confirm the predictive and contemporaneous usefulness of our entropy setting in market risk management. The degree of predictability is closely linked to both the type of entropy and the nature of the underlying signal. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bayesian Forecasting for Financial Risk Management,Pre and Post the Global Financial Crisis

Value‐at‐risk (VaR) forecasting via a computational Bayesian framework is considered. A range of parametric models is compared, including standard, threshold nonlinear and Markov switching generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) specifications, plus standard and nonlinear stochastic volatility models, most considering four error probability distributions: Gaussian, Student‐t, skewed‐t and generalized error distribution. Adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo methods are employed in estimation and forecasting. A portfolio of four Asia–Pacific stock markets is considered. Two forecasting periods are evaluated in light of the recent global financial crisis. Results reveal that: (i) GARCH models outperformed stochastic volatility models in almost all cases; (ii) asymmetric volatility models were clearly favoured pre crisis, while at the 1% level during and post crisis, for a 1‐day horizon, models with skewed‐t errors ranked best, while integrated GARCH models were favoured at the 5% level; (iii) all models forecast VaR less accurately and anti‐conservatively post crisis. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Volatility forecasting with double Markov switching GARCH models

This paper investigates inference and volatility forecasting using a Markov switching heteroscedastic model with a fat‐tailed error distribution to analyze asymmetric effects on both the conditional mean and conditional volatility of financial time series. The motivation for extending the Markov switching GARCH model, previously developed to capture mean asymmetry, is that the switching variable, assumed to be a first‐order Markov process, is unobserved. The proposed model extends this work to incorporate Markov switching in the mean and variance simultaneously. Parameter estimation and inference are performed in a Bayesian framework via a Markov chain Monte Carlo scheme. We compare competing models using Bayesian forecasting in a comparative value‐at‐risk study. The proposed methods are illustrated using both simulations and eight international stock market return series. The results generally favor the proposed double Markov switching GARCH model with an exogenous variable. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Robust Data‐Mining Approach to Bankruptcy Prediction

In this study, new variants of genetic programming (GP), namely gene expression programming (GEP) and multi‐expression programming (MEP), are utilized to build models for bankruptcy prediction. Generalized relationships are obtained to classify samples of 136 bankrupt and non‐bankrupt Iranian corporations based on their financial ratios. An important contribution of this paper is to identify the effective predictive financial ratios on the basis of an extensive bankruptcy prediction literature review and upon a sequential feature selection analysis. The predictive performance of the GEP and MEP forecasting methods is compared with the performance of traditional statistical methods and a generalized regression neural network. The proposed GEP and MEP models are effectively capable of classifying bankrupt and non‐bankrupt firms and outperform the models developed using other methods. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An ensemble of LSTM neural networks for high‐frequency stock market classification

We propose an ensemble of long–short‐term memory (LSTM) neural networks for intraday stock predictions, using a large variety of technical analysis indicators as network inputs. The proposed ensemble operates in an online way, weighting the individual models proportionally to their recent performance, which allows us to deal with possible nonstationarities in an innovative way. The performance of the models is measured by area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic. We evaluate the predictive power of our model on several US large‐cap stocks and benchmark it against lasso and ridge logistic classifiers. The proposed model is found to perform better than the benchmark models or equally weighted ensembles.     

基于真实机器的装配公差分析方法

机器上目标要素的位置误差是零件几何误差和装配误差共同作用的结果．为了研究装配基准的几何误差在装配链中的传递和变换,提出基于真实机器模型的装配积累误差建模与分析方法．首先,采用控制点变动模型表示零件几何要素,利用蒙特卡罗模拟方法生成几何要素相对于公称位置的变动实例．然后,根据理论正确尺寸确定几何要素相对于基准参考框架的公称位置．第三,提出基准参考框架建立方法,根据基准要素实例确定目标要素的测量基准参考框架．最后,提出装配接触模型,根据装配顺序和基准要素位置实例确定测量基准参考框架相对于装配基准体系的位置．通过以上4个过程计算装配链中所有关联要素在机器坐标系下的位置,获得装配基准体系的几何误差在装配链中的转递和变换关系．将真实机器装配情况模拟分解为4个模块化过程,可以实现装配误差分析的自动化．以三平面定位的轴孔装配的装配间隙计算为实例,验证了本文提出的方法．     

Stock index prediction based on wavelet transform and FCD-MLGRU

With the development of artificial intelligence, deep learning is widely used in the field of nonlinear time series forecasting. It is proved in practice that deep learning models have higher forecasting accuracy compared with traditional linear econometric models and machine learning models. With the purpose of further improving forecasting accuracy of financial time series, we propose the WT-FCD-MLGRU model, which is the combination of wavelet transform, filter cycle decomposition and multilag neural networks. Four major stock indices are chosen to test the forecasting performance among traditional econometric model, machine learning model and deep learning models. According to the result of empirical analysis, deep learning models perform better than traditional econometric model such as autoregressive integrated moving average and improved machine learning model SVR. Besides, our proposed model has the minimum forecasting error in stock index prediction.     

The detection of earnings manipulation: the three‐phase cutting plane algorithm using mathematical programming

The primary goal of this study was to propose an algorithm using mathematical programming to detect earnings management practices. In order to evaluate the ability of this proposed algorithm, the traditional statistical models are used as a benchmark vis‐à‐vis their time series counterparts. As emerging techniques in the area of mathematical programming yield better results, application of suitable models is expected to result in highly performed forecasts. The motivation behind this paper is to develop an algorithm which will succeed in detecting companies that appeal to financial manipulation. The methodology is based on cutting plane formulation using mathematical programming. A sample of 126 Turkish manufacturing firms described over 10 financial ratios and indexes are used for detecting factors associated with false financial statements. The results indicate that the proposed three‐phase cutting plane algorithm outperforms the traditional statistical techniques which are widely used for false financial statement detections. Furthermore, the results indicate that the investigation of financial information can be helpful towards the identification of false financial statements and highlight the importance of financial ratios/indexes such as Days' Sales in Receivables Index (DSRI), Gross Margin Index (GMI), Working Capital Accruals to Total Assets (TATA) and Days to Inventory Index (DINV). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonparametric Quantile Regression‐Based Classifiers for Bankruptcy Forecasting

An improved classification device for bankruptcy forecasting is proposed. The proposed approach relies on mainstream classifiers whose inputs are obtained from a so‐called multinorm analysis, instead of traditional indicators such as the ROA ratio and other accounting ratios. A battery of industry norms (computed by using nonparametric quantile regressions) is obtained, and the deviations of each firm from this multinorm system are used as inputs for the classifiers. The approach is applied to predict bankruptcy on a representative sample of Spanish manufacturing firms. Results indicate that our proposal may significantly enhance predictive accuracy, both in linear and nonlinear classifiers. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ensemble Forecasting for Complex Time Series Using Sparse Representation and Neural Networks

Based on the concept of ‘decomposition and ensemble’, a novel ensemble forecasting approach is proposed for complex time series by coupling sparse representation (SR) and feedforward neural network (FNN), i.e. the SR‐based FNN approach. Three main steps are involved: data decomposition via SR, individual forecasting via FNN and ensemble forecasting via a simple addition method. In particular, to capture various coexisting hidden factors, the effective decomposition tool of SR with its unique virtues of flexibility and generalization is introduced to formulate an overcomplete dictionary covering diverse bases, e.g. exponential basis for main trend, Fourier basis for cyclical (and seasonal) features and wavelet basis for transient actions, different from other techniques with a single basis. Using crude oil price (a typical complex time series) as sample data, the empirical study statistically confirms the superiority of the SR‐based FNN method over some other popular forecasting models and similar ensemble models (with other decomposition tools). Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Bayesian nonlinear support vector machine error correction model

The use of linear error correction models based on stationarity and cointegration analysis, typically estimated with least squares regression, is a common technique for financial time series prediction. In this paper, the same formulation is extended to a nonlinear error correction model using the idea of a kernel‐based implicit nonlinear mapping to a high‐dimensional feature space in which linear model formulations are specified. Practical expressions for the nonlinear regression are obtained in terms of the positive definite kernel function by solving a linear system. The nonlinear least squares support vector machine model is designed within the Bayesian evidence framework that allows us to find appropriate trade‐offs between model complexity and in‐sample model accuracy. From straightforward primal–dual reasoning, the Bayesian framework allows us to derive error bars on the prediction in a similar way as for linear models and to perform hyperparameter and input selection. Starting from the results of the linear modelling analysis, the Bayesian kernel‐based prediction is successfully applied to out‐of‐sample prediction of an aggregated equity price index for the European chemical sector. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.