The Value of Corporate Reputation in the Bankruptcy Risk

Abstract

In recent years CR has been considered by experts as one of the most important intangibles assets for sustainability of the companies. Existing literature designates several positive aspects of a good CR, highlighting that companies with better CR have superior financial performance. In this sense, some recent researches, conclude that a good CR decreases the risk for companies, focusing on the relation between CR and the variability of returns over a period of time. Nevertheless, as far as we know, there are no studies analyzing the relation between CR and bankruptcy risk, what it is an important component of the unsystematic risk, and an aim element in Strategic Management. This is why the aim of this paper is to show, based on empirical evidence, that a good CR helps companies to minimize bankruptcy risk. To answer this research question, a sample of Spanish companies in the Share Market between 2008 and 2012 has been used, and an algorithm based on Generalized Regression Neural Networks (GRNN). Results shown that a good CR is positively related to a lower bankruptcy risk, and those models built with GRNN are more robust than those others based on traditional statistical techniques, like Multi-Linear Regression models.

Keywords

• Generalized Regression Neural Networks
• Corporate Reputation
• Unsystematic Risk
• Bankruptcy Risk
• Financial Performance