Machine learning-based corporate default risk prediction model verification and policy recommendation: Focusing on improvement through stacking ensemble model

This study uses corporate data from 2012 to 2018 when K-IFRS was applied in earnest to predict default risks. The data used in the analysis totaled 10,545 rows, consisting of 160 columns including 38 in the statement of financial position, 26 in the statement of comprehensive income, 11 in the statement of cash flows, and 76 in the index of financial ratios. Unlike most previous prior studies used the default event as the basis for learning about default risk, this study calculated default risk using the market capitalization and stock price volatility of each company based on the Merton model. Through this, it was able to solve the problem of data imbalance due to the scarcity of default events, which had been pointed out as the limitation of the existing methodology, and the problem of reflecting the difference in default risk that exists within ordinary companies. Because learning was conducted only by using corporate information available to unlisted companies, default risks of unlisted companies without stock price information can be appropriately derived. Through this, it can provide stable default risk assessment services to unlisted companies that are difficult to determine proper default risk with traditional credit rating models such as small and medium-sized companies and startups. Although there has been an active study of predicting corporate default risks using machine learning recently, model bias issues exist because most studies are making predictions based on a single model. Stable and reliable valuation methodology is required for the calculation of default risk, given that the entity's default risk information is very widely utilized in the market and the sensitivity to the difference in default risk is high. Also, Strict standards are also required for methods of calculation. The credit rating method stipulated by the Financial Services Commission in the Financial Investment Regulations calls for the preparation of evaluation methods, including verification of the adequacy of evaluation methods, in consideration of past statistical data and experiences on credit ratings and changes in future market conditions. This study allowed the reduction of individual models' bias by utilizing stacking ensemble techniques that synthesize various machine learning models. This allows us to capture complex nonlinear relationships between default risk and various corporate information and maximize the advantages of machine learning-based default risk prediction models that take less time to calculate. To calculate forecasts by sub model to be used as input data for the Stacking Ensemble model, training data were divided into seven pieces, and sub-models were trained in a divided set to produce forecasts. To compare the predictive power of the Stacking Ensemble model, Random Forest, MLP, and CNN models were trained with full training data, then the predictive power of each model was verified on the test set. The analysis showed that the Stacking Ensemble model exceeded the predictive power of the Random Forest model, which had the best performance on a single model. Next, to check for statistically significant differences between the Stacking Ensemble model and the forecasts for each individual model, the Pair between the Stacking Ensemble model and each individual model was constructed. Because the results of the Shapiro-wilk normality test also showed that all Pair did not follow normality, Using the nonparametric method wilcoxon rank sum test, we checked whether the two model forecasts that make up the Pair showed statistically significant differences. The analysis showed that the forecasts of the Staging Ensemble model showed statistically significant differences from those of the MLP model and CNN model. In addition, this study can provide a methodology that allows existing credit rating agencies to apply machine learning-based bankruptcy risk prediction methodologies, given that traditional credit rating models can also be reflected as sub-models to calculate the final default probability. Also, the Stacking Ensemble techniques proposed in this study can help design to meet the requirements of the Financial Investment Business Regulations through the combination of various sub-models. We hope that this research will be used as a resource to increase practical use by overcoming and improving the limitations of existing machine learning-based models.

머신러닝 기반 기업부도위험 예측모델 검증 및 정책적 제언: 스태킹 앙상블 모델을 통한 개선을 중심으로

본 연구는 부도위험 예측을 위해 K-IFRS가 본격적으로 적용된 2012년부터 2018년까지의 기업데이터를 이용한다. 부도위험의 학습을 위해, 기존의 대부분 선행연구들이 부도발생 여부를 기준으로 사용했던 것과 다르게, 본 연구에서는 머튼 모형을 토대로 각 기업의 시가총액과 주가 변동성을 이용하여 부도위험을 산정했으며, 이를 통해 기존 방법론의 한계로 지적되어오던 부도사건 희소성에 따른 데이터 불균형 문제와 정상기업 내에서 존재하는 부도위험 차이 반영 문제를 해소할 수 있도록 하였다. 또한, 시장의 평가가 반영된 시가총액 및 주가 변동성을 기반으로 부도위험을 도출하되, 부도위험과 매칭될 입력데이터로는 비상장 기업에서 활용될 수 있는 기업 정보만을 활용하여 학습을 수행함으로써, 포스트 팬데믹 시대에서 주가 정보가 존재하지 않는 비상장 기업에게도 시장의 판단을 모사하여 부도위험을 적절하게 도출할 수 있도록 하였다. 기업의 부도위험 정보가 시장에서 매우 광범위하게 활용되고 있고, 부도위험 차이에 대한 민감도가 높다는 점에서 부도위험 산출 시 안정적이고 신뢰성 높은 평가방법론이 요구된다. 최근 머신러닝을 활용하여 기업의 부도위험을 예측하는 연구가 활발하게 이루어지고 있으나, 대부분 단일 모델을 기반으로 예측을 수행한다는 점에서 필연적인 모델 편향 문제가 존재하고, 이는 실무에서 활용하기 어려운 요인으로 작용하고 있다. 이에, 본 연구에서는 다양한 머신러닝 모델을 서브모델로 하는 스태킹 앙상블 기법을 활용하여 개별 모델이 갖는 편향을 경감시킬 수 있도록 하였다. 이를 통해 부도위험과 다양한 기업정보들 간의 복잡한 비선형적 관계들을 포착할 수 있으며, 산출에 소요되는 시간이 적다는 머신러닝 기반 부도위험 예측모델의 장점을 극대화할 수 있다. 본 연구가 기존 머신러닝 기반 모델의 한계를 극복 및 개선함으로써 실무에서의 활용도를 높일 수 있는 자료로 활용되기를 바라며, 머신러닝 기반 부도위험 예측 모형의 도입 기준 정립 및 정책적 활용에도 기여할 수 있기를 희망한다.