Determinants of Corporate Financial Distress: Case of Non- Financial Firms Listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange

Financial statements fail to acknowledge the significance of a market mechanism in predicting bankruptcy because accounting variables are produced by a limited number of experts and accountants, but not by the market as a whole. However, in his study, he concluded that Z-score model (an accounting ratio model) produces more consistent results for the data collected and analyzed in terms of the “Max-rescaled R-square” and the “Classification Table” and seems to be reliable model (Bum, 2003). One of the classic works in the area of ratio analysis and bankruptcy classification was performed by Beaver in 1967. In a real sense, his univariate analysis of a number of bankruptcy predictors set the stage for the multivariate attempts which followed. Beaver found that a number of indicators could discriminate between matched samples of failed and non-failed firms for as long as five years prior to failure. He questioned the use of multivariate analysis. A subsequent study by Deakin in 1972 utilized the same 14 variables that Beaver analyzed, but he applied them within a series of multivariate discriminant models. The above mentioned studies imply a definite potential of ratios as predictors of bankruptcy. In general, ratios measuring profitability, liquidity, and solvency prevailed as the most significant indicators (Altman, Haldeman, & Narayanan, 1977).