An Investigation of Thai Listed Firms' Financial Distress Using Macro and Micro Variables

The emergence of the economic crisis in Thailand in 1997 is an interesting case for academic studies. Internationally, it had a contagion effect, spreading to countries in Asia and in other regions. Domestically, it caused a great many industrial and corporate bankruptcies. The Thai economy had been relatively stable since 1984. The recent development in 1997, however, produced a sudden economic slump resulting in closures of many Thai corporations. Using a logit regression, this study develops a macro-related micro-crisis investigation model. The significance of the model is in its ability to bridge a firm's sensitivity to macroeconomic conditions and its financial characteristics in order to explore a firm's financial distress. The findings indicate that macroeconomic conditions are critical indicators of potential financial crisis for a firm. The article shows that the higher a firm's sensitivity to inflation, the higher the firm's exposure to financial distress.