Financial distress and firm value across the life cycle: A systematic review

Authors

  • Poespawijaya Natalia Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya
  • Rahayu Mudjilah Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya
  • Krismiaji Krismiaji Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55927/eajmr.v4i9.382

Keywords:

SLR, Financial Distress, Firm Value, Life-Cycle, Capital Structure

Abstract

Financial distress and corporate restructuring are vital issues affecting firm value across corporate life cycle stages. This review explores how internal factors (capital structure, efficiency) and external factors (markets, regulation) interact with distress and restructuring strategies. Using firm value theory and life cycle models, we examine how companies adapt their financial strategies to sustain value. A systematic literature review (SLR) approach integrates key studies, identifies research gaps, and highlights methodological trends. Findings offer a conceptual framework useful for scholars and practitioners in managing financial distress and sustaining firm value in diverse economic contexts.

References

Abedin, M. Z., Sun, S., & Rashid, M. M. (2022). Corporate governance and financial distress prediction: Evidence from an emerging market. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 15(5), 210. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15050210

Abor, J., & Biekpe, N. (2006). Corporate governance, ownership structure and performance of SMEs in Ghana: Implications for financing opportunities. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 6(3), 288–300. https://doi.org/10.1108/14720700610671937

Abuhommous, A. A. A. (2023). Corporate life cycle and credit scoring. Journal of Applied Economics, 26, Article 2255444. https://doi.org/10.1080/15140326.2023.2255444

Ahmed, B., Akbar, M., Sabahat, T., Ali, S., Hussain, A., Akbar, A., & Hongming, X. (2020). Climate risk and firm performance. Sustainability, 13, Article 197. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010197

Akbar, M., Hussain, A., Sokolova, M., & Sabahat, T. (2022). COVID-19 pandemic and the capital structure of distressed firms. Economies, 10, Article 175. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies10070175

Aljughaiman, A. A., Nguyen, T. H., Trinh, V. Q., & Du, A. (2023). The COVID 19 outbreak, corporate financial distress and earnings management. International Review of Financial Analysis, 88, 102675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2023.102675

Aljughaiman, A. A., Nguyen, T. H., Trinh, V. Q., & Du, A. (2023). Financial distress and firm performance: Evidence from emerging markets. International Review of Financial Analysis, 88, 102675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2023.102675

Altman, E. I. (1968). Financial ratios, discriminant analysis and the prediction of corporate bankruptcy. The Journal of Finance, 23(4), 589–609. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1968.tb00843.x

Altman, E. I., Iwanicz-Drozdowska, M., Laitinen, E. K., & Suvas, A. (2017). Financial distress prediction in public and private firms. Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting, 28, 131–171. https://doi.org/10.1111/jifm.12053

Ambarwati, S. D. A., & Haryono, S. T. (2022). Financial distress determinants in small businesses. International Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting Research, 5. https://doi.org/10.29040/ijebar.v5i4.3830

Anderson, R. C., & Reeb, D. M. (2003). Founding-family ownership and firm performance: Evidence from the S&P 500. The Journal of Finance, 58(3), 1301–1328. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6261.00567

Andrade, G., & Kaplan, S. N. (1998). How costly is financial (not economic) distress? Evidence from highly leveraged transactions that became distressed. The Journal of Finance, 53(5), 1443–1493. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-1082.00062

Archanskaia, E., Canton, E., Hobza, A., Nikolov, P., & Simons, W. (2023). The asymmetric impact of COVID 19: A novel approach to quantifying financial distress across industries. European Economic Review, 158, Article 104509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2023.104509

Ashraf, S., Félix, E. G. S., & Serrasqueiro, Z. (2019). Cash holdings and financial health. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 12, Article 55. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm12020055

Berger, A. N., & Udell, G. F. (1998). The economics of small business finance: The roles of private equity and debt markets in the financial growth cycle. Journal of Banking & Finance, 22(6–8), 613–673. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-4266(98)00038-7

Bharath, S. T., & Shumway, T. (2008). Forecasting default with the Merton distance to default model. Review of Financial Studies, 21(3), 1339–1369. https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhn044

Bhimavarapu, V. M., Rastogi, S., Kanoujiya, J., & Rawal, A. (2023). Distress prediction using AI tools. Future Business Journal, 9, Article 62. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-023-00248-7

Brahim, M., & Ez-Zoubi, (2024). Firm lifecycle in emerging markets. Moroccan Journal of Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 1, 106–119. https://doi.org/10.48379/IMIST.PRSM/mjqr-v6i4.52257

Buttignon, (2020). Corporate valuation under financial distress. Journal of Business Valuation & Economic Loss Analysis, 15. https://doi.org/10.1515/jbvela-2020-0002

Can, G., Demiraj, R., & Mersni, H. (2023). Life cycle stages and firm valuation. EuroMed Journal of Business, 18, 150–169. https://doi.org/10.1108/EMJB-01-2022-0010

Cascio, W. F., Chatrath, A., & Christie-David, R. A. (2021). Executive decision biases under distress. Academy of Management Journal, 64, 587–613. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2019.0392

Charalambakis, E. C., & Garrett, I. (2019). Bankruptcy law regimes and credit risk. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 52, 467–491. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11156-018-0744-9

Claessens, S., & Yafeh, Y. (2012). How does corporate governance affect bank capitalization strategies? Journal of Financial Intermediation, 21(2), 301–322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfi.2011.06.003

Claessens, S., Djankov, S., & Xu, L. C. (2001). Corporate performance in the East Asian financial crisis. The World Bank Research Observer, 15(1), 23–46. https://doi.org/10.1093/wbro/15.1.23

Dewi, M., Foanto, G. N., & Christiawan, Y. J. (2021). Corporate restructuring in developing economies: Sample evidence. Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, 197, 1–10.

Dickinson, V. (2011). Cash flow patterns as a proxy for firm life cycle. The Accounting Review, 86(6), 1969–1994. https://doi.org/10.2308/accr-10130

ElBannan, M. A. (2021). Restructuring and firm recovery in emerging markets. Emerging Markets Review, 47, Article 100806. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ememar.2020.100806

Faccio, M., Masulis, R. W., & McConnell, J. J. (2006). Political connections and corporate bailouts. The Journal of Finance, 61(6), 2597–2635. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.2006.01000.x

Farhangdoust, S., Salehi, M., & Molavi, H. (2020). Bankruptcy prediction with hybrid models. Management Research Review, 43, 1221–1239. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-06-2019-0277

Gilson, S. C. (1997). Transactions costs and capital structure choice: Evidence from financially distressed firms. The Journal of Finance, 52(1), 161–196. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1997.tb03812.x

Gompers, P., Ishii, J., & Metrick, A. (2003). Corporate governance and equity prices. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(1), 107–156. https://doi.org/10.1162/00335530360535162

Habib, A., & Hasan, M. M. (2017). Firm life cycle, corporate risk‐taking and investor sentiment. Accounting & Finance, 57(2), 465–497. https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12202

Hasan, M. M., Hossain, M., & Habib, A. (2015). Corporate life cycle and cost of equity capital. Journal of Contemporary Accounting & Economics, 11(1), 46–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcae.2014.12.002

Hotchkiss, E. S., John, K., Mooradian, R. M., & Thorburn, K. S. (2008). Bankruptcy and the resolution of financial distress. In B. E. Eckbo (Ed.), Handbook of Empirical Corporate Finance (pp. 235–287). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-53265-7.50010-0

Khanna, T., & Palepu, K. (2000). Is group affiliation profitable in emerging markets? An analysis of diversified Indian business groups. The Journal of Finance, 55(2), 867–891. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-1082.00229

Kraus, S., Clauss, T., Breier, M., Gast, J., Zardini, A., & Tiberius, V. (2020). The economics of COVID-19: Initial empirical evidence on how family firms in five European countries cope with the corona crisis. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 26(5), 1067–1092. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-04-2020-0214

La Porta, R., Lopez‐de‐Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1998). Law and finance. Journal of Political Economy, 106(6), 1113–1155. https://doi.org/10.1086/250042

Li, Z., Crook, J., Andreeva, G., & Tang, Y. (2021). Venture capital impact on distressed firms. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 68, Article 101334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pacfin.2021.101334

Lim, J. (2020). Life cycle theory of the firm: A review. Research in Economics and Management, 5, 1–10.

Mahmood, Y., Rizwan, M. F., & Rashid, A. (2018). Perceived bankruptcy prediction by managers. NICE Research Journal, 1–16.

Manzaneque, M., Priego, A. M., & Merino, E. (2016). Corporate governance effect on financial distress likelihood: Evidence from Spain. Revista de Contabilidad, 19(1), 111–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcsar.2015.04.001

Mehmood, A., & De Luca, F. (2023). Financial distress prediction in private firms: Developing a model for troubled debt restructuring. Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 24, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAAR-12-2021-0273

Mohammad, S. J., Aldaas, A. A., Al Jundi, N. A., & Alkhateeb, N. A. (2024). Corporate governance and distresse firms. Journal of Governance and Regulation, 13, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.22495/jgrv13i2art1

Myers, S. C., & Majluf, N. S. (1984). Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have. Journal of Financial Economics, 13, 187–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(84)90023-0

Ohlson, J. A. (1980). Financial ratios and the probabilistic prediction of bankruptcy. Journal of Accounting Research, 18(1), 109–131. https://doi.org/10.2307/2490395

Page, M. J., et al. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71

Palacín Sánchez, M. J., Garcia, A. D. A. P. L., & Cuevas, F. J. C. (2023). Corporate governance and financial distress forecasting. Cuadernos de Gestión, 23, 81–91. https://doi.org/10.5295/cdg.211457ms

Pandey, I. M., & Ongpipattanakul, V. (2015). Capital structure and bankruptcy: Evidence from ASEAN. International Journal of Accounting & Finance, 11, 244–267. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMF-12-2013-0121

Pati, D., & Lorusso, L. N. (2018). Service performance in hospital emergency departments. Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 11, 15–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/1937586717747384

Platt, H. D., & Platt, M. B. (2002). Predicting corporate financial distress: Reflections on choice‐based sample bias. Journal of Economics and Finance, 26(2), 184–199. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02755985

Rehman, A. U., Ahmad, T., Hussain, S., & Hassan, S. (2021). Managing financial distress: Employment, capital structure, and firm life cycle. Journal of Asia Business Studies, 15, 625–642. https://doi.org/10.1108/JABS-02-2020-0062

Roida, H. Y. (2020). Family firms and capital structure decisions: Empirical evidence from Indonesian listed firms (Doctoral dissertation, University of Central Lancashire). https://clok.uclan.ac.uk/id/eprint/34608

Sari, N. A. (2022). Audit delay and firm value: Evidence from Indonesia. Indonesian Accounting & Finance Research, 7, 16–25.

Sari, P., & Ismah, I. Z. (2023). Managerial ownership and financial distress. Indonesian Accounting Review, 13, 21–34. https://doi.org/10.14414/tiar.v13i1.3053

Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1997). A survey of corporate governance. The Journal of Finance, 52(2), 737–783. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1997.tb04820.x

Shumway, T. (2001). Forecasting bankruptcy more accurately: A simple hazard model. The Journal of Business, 74(1), 101–124. https://doi.org/10.1086/209665

Tran, T., Nguyen, N. H., Le, B. T., Vu, N. T., & Vo, D. H. (2023). COVID 19 impact and firms’ decline: Cross country data. PLoS ONE, 18, e0284451. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284451

Verhoef, P. C., Broekhuizen, T., Bart, Y., Bhattacharya, A., Dong, J. Q., Fabian, N., & Haenlein, M. (2021). Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary reflection and research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 122, 889–901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.09.022

Wang, Z., Akbar, M., & Akbar, A. (2020). Financial resilience and ESG performance. Sustainability, 12, Article 1661. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041661

Whitaker, R. B. (1999). The early stages of financial distress. Journal of Economics and Finance, 23(2), 123–132. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02745946

Wijaya, H., & Juliana, R. (2023). Financial performance analysis of Indonesian family firms. Klabat Accounting Review, 4, 132–143.

Xu, J., & Li, J. (2022). Corporate life cycle, financial distress and firm performance. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 23, 313–341. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-06-2021-0163

Zhang, X., Ouyang, R., Liu, D., & Xu, L. (2020). Financial distress modelling: A structural approach. Economic Modelling, 92, 87–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2020.01.001

Zhou, Y., Liu, X., Wang, T., & Zhang, R. (2022). Firm life cycle and stock performance. Journal of Business Research, 148, 135–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.04.030

Published

2025-09-24