Xi—Working Capital/Total Assets. The Working capital/Total assets ratio,
frequently found in studies of corporate problems, is a measure of the net liquid
assets of the firm relative to the total capitalization. Working capital is defined
as the difference between current assets and current liabilities. Liquidity and
size characteristics are explicitly considered. Ordinarily, a firm experiencing
consistent operating losses will have shrinking current assets in relation to total
assets. Of the three liquidity ratios evaluated, this one proved to be the most
valuable.^^ Inclusion of this variable is consistent with the Merwin study which
20. The Beaver study (cited earlier) concluded that the cash flow to debt ratio was the best
single ratio predictor. This ratio was not considered here because of the lack of consistent appearance
of precise depredation data. The results obtained, however (see section IV), are superior to
the results Beaver attained with his single best ratio, see Beaver, op. cit., p. 89.
21. The MDA computer program used in this study was developed by W. Cooley and P. Lohnes.
The data are organized in a blocked format; the bankrupt firms' data first followed by the nonbankrupt
firms'.
22. The other two liquidity ratios were the current ratio and the quick ratio. The Working
capital/Total assets ratio showed greater statistical significance both on a univariate and multivariate
basis.