The purpose of this PhD thesis is to make a contribution to existing knowledge in the field of critical accounting by studying credit mechanisms and their link to income/wealth inequality in Sri Lankan society and the role of accounting technology in facilitating such mechanisms. The literature review revealed that: a) Global inequality is aggravated by the disparity of economic development which is possible only through state intervention; b) Unemployment is considered as a dilemma for economic development in developing countries by most politicians/administrators/researchers; c) In any country, around 60-70 percent of employment is generated by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and; d) Their major problem is access to credit. This research was designed to find out how the credit system works and why certain SMEs do not have adequate access to credit to develop their businesses; to provide employment; to increase the share of national income to the lower income groups; to narrow down the gap between the rich and poor within and between countries. A case study research approach was followed to extract data on real-life experiences of the research participants. Reliability of data was ensured by using various verification techniques and maximum efforts were made to balance the two extremes of validity of the research; internal and external. The extent of representation by the cases and the bank was tested, and judged as high, with 12-14 characteristics common to the Sri Lankan credit culture and banking industry respectively. Marxian critical theories were used for theoretical guidance throughout the research. The three case studies provide empirical evidence for the existence of the discriminatory nature of credit decision-making where two credit applicants were successful but a third credit applicant failed in obtaining credit. It is contended that the two successful applicants were powerful enough to approach a more powerful bank Chairperson and to obtain credit outside the normal credit rules with the support of accounting technology and using masks such as patriotism and social responsibility. The other applicant, who was initially accommodated with credit at the lower level, could not convince the credit decision-makers at the higher level with expensive professionally prepared accounting reports. This applicant was not from an influential social network and could not reach the powerful credit decision-makers informally was rejected through strict application of credit rules. Deep analysis of these facts supports the Marxian claim that credit and exploitation mechanisms work towards concentration of wealth and sustaining income inequality. Credit decisions supply money to influential individuals and it is argued that such economic power enhances the social powerbase of those individuals, which in turn reinforces the propensity to make preferential credit decisions, thereby making them richer. In contrast, a lack of money translates into powerlessness, deprivation and exclusion from social activities for the majority of the poor. In this process opportunities are lost to disadvantaged social groups and this necessarily results in poor people’s economic status remaining stagnant. These power-driven, discriminatory decision-making systems not only restrict the availability of financial capital for feasible projects, but also deny credit to potential enterprises. Further, wasting resources on unfeasible projects, while ignoring the need for nurturing potentially viable projects, are a double blow to efforts towards employment generation and economic development and therefore, are detrimental to the economic well-being of the general population. These findings provide insight for policy formulators for more productive financial capital mobility systems in Sri Lanka. It is suggested that suitable State intervention in regulating SME financing could remove such credit-related obstacles to economic development, and work towards a fair distribution of economic benefits to the people in Sri Lanka and beyond.

The purpose of this PhD thesis is to make a contribution to existing knowledge in the field of critical accounting by studying credit mechanisms and their link to income/wealth inequality in Sri Lankan society and the role of accounting technology in facilitating such mechanisms. The literature review revealed that: a) Global inequality is aggravated by the disparity of economic development which is possible only through state intervention; b) Unemployment is considered as a dilemma for economic development in developing countries by most politicians/administrators/researchers; c) In any country, around 60-70 percent of employment is generated by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and; d) Their major problem is access to credit. This research was designed to find out how the credit system works and why certain SMEs do not have adequate access to credit to develop their businesses; to provide employment; to increase the share of national income to the lower income groups; to narrow down the gap between the rich and poor within and between countries. A case study research approach was followed to extract data on real-life experiences of the research participants. Reliability of data was ensured by using various verification techniques and maximum efforts were made to balance the two extremes of validity of the research; internal and external. The extent of representation by the cases and the bank was tested, and judged as high, with 12-14 characteristics common to the Sri Lankan credit culture and banking industry respectively. Marxian critical theories were used for theoretical guidance throughout the research. The three case studies provide empirical evidence for the existence of the discriminatory nature of credit decision-making where two credit applicants were successful but a third credit applicant failed in obtaining credit. It is contended that the two successful applicants were powerful enough to approach a more powerful bank Chairperson and to obtain credit outside the normal credit rules with the support of accounting technology and using masks such as patriotism and social responsibility. The other applicant, who was initially accommodated with credit at the lower level, could not convince the credit decision-makers at the higher level with expensive professionally prepared accounting reports. This applicant was not from an influential social network and could not reach the powerful credit decision-makers informally was rejected through strict application of credit rules. Deep analysis of these facts supports the Marxian claim that credit and exploitation mechanisms work towards concentration of wealth and sustaining income inequality. Credit decisions supply money to influential individuals and it is argued that such economic power enhances the social powerbase of those individuals, which in turn reinforces the propensity to make preferential credit decisions, thereby making them richer. In contrast, a lack of money translates into powerlessness, deprivation and exclusion from social activities for the majority of the poor. In this process opportunities are lost to disadvantaged social groups and this necessarily results in poor people’s economic status remaining stagnant. These power-driven, discriminatory decision-making systems not only restrict the availability of financial capital for feasible projects, but also deny credit to potential enterprises. Further, wasting resources on unfeasible projects, while ignoring the need for nurturing potentially viable projects, are a double blow to efforts towards employment generation and economic development and therefore, are detrimental to the economic well-being of the general population. These findings provide insight for policy formulators for more productive financial capital mobility systems in Sri Lanka. It is suggested that suitable State intervention in regulating SME financing could remove such credit-related obstacles to economic development, and work towards a fair distribution of economic benefits to the people in Sri Lanka and beyond.

Samhället går mot en mer tjänsteinriktad och kunskapsintensiv produktion vilket har lett till att immateriella resurser har fått en större betydelse för företagens ekonomier. Några av resurserna uppfyller kriterierna för en tillgång och finns med i företagens balansräkningar.   När företag är i behov av kapital ser bankerna till företagens balansräkningar för att göra en kreditbedömning. De måste då bedöma immateriella tillgångar.    - Hur bedömer kreditgivare företags immateriella tillgångar?  - Vilken betydelse har denna bedömning för kreditgivningsbeslut?   Syftet med studien är att beskriva hur kreditgivare bedömer immateriella tillgångar och vilken betydelse denna bedömning har för kreditgivningsbeslut. En kvalitativ studie har genomförts där datamaterialet har samlats in genomintervjuer med respondenter från tre olika banker.   Två av de undersökta bankerna bedömer inget ekonomiskt värde på immateriella tillgångar men dessa är med och påverkar helhetsbedömningen av ett företag. Betydelsen av detta är att företag med för stor andel immateriella tillgångar får svårare att bli beviljade kredit och straffas med högre kostnader. Den sista banken sätter ett ekonomiskt värde på immateriella tillgångar men värderar ned dessa med ett schablonmässigt avdrag. Konsekvensen blir att företag med stor andel immateriella tillgångar har bättre möjlighet att bli beviljade kredit. Vid större krediter finansierar banken dock inte med en lika stor del av investeringen. / Society is moving towards a more service oriented and knowledge intensive production which has led the intangible resources to a major factor in companies’ economies. Some of the resources meet the criteria for an asset and is included in corporate balance sheets. When companies are in need of capital banks look to corporate balance sheets to make a credit assessment. Then they have to assess intangible assets.    - How does creditors assescompanies intangible assets?  - What significance does this assessment have on credit decisions?   The purpose of this study is to describe how creditors assess intangible assets and the significance of this assessment for credit decisions.   A qualitative study has been conducted in which data was collected through interviews with respondents from three different banks.   Two of the studied banks assess no monetary value on intangible assets, but these affect the overall assessment of a company. The significance of this is that companies with a high proportion of intangible assets have harder to be granted credit and punished with higher costs. The last bank puts a monetary value on intangibles, but devaluates them with a flat rate deduction. The consequence is that firms with high proportion of intangible assets have better chances of being granted credit. For larger credits, the bank doesn't finance an equal amount of the investment.

One of the most fundamental aspects of a business is revenue generation. The revenue modeldescribes how revenues are collected by a firm through selling its products and services. Asrevenue generation is of great importance to a business, it is essential for companies to analyzetheir revenue model to establish whether their current model for revenue appropriation isoptimal.After conducting pre-interviews at Bisnode AB, the commissioner of this study, it becameevident that Bisnode has a need to analyze their current revenue model for its credit decisionservices in a structured manner to ensure its competitiveness and profitability. Thus, this thesiswill study revenue model analysis for firms active in the market for credit decision services.The research was conducted through a qualitative case study at Bisnode, based on semistructuredinterviews, observations and archival information. By identifying which aspects totake into consideration when analyzing a revenue model, and by grounding the findings into theexisting literature, a complete framework for revenue model analysis was developed. Theframework facilitates revenue model analysis and consists of five different dimensions: financial,customers, strategy, competition, and macro environment. Further, by linking the case studyfindings to the existing body of literature, a work process for revenue model analysis wasproposed. The outcome of this study is a framework for revenue model analysis to be used bycompanies offering credit decision services.The findings of the research have both theoretical, managerial and sustainability implications.From a theoretical standpoint, a framework for revenue model analysis that integrates strategicmanagement literature and studies on value proposition has been proposed. Furthermore, asearlier research has been mainly focused on the business model as a whole, this report studies therevenue model as an independent research topic and lays the foundation for further research inthe domain. From a managerial perspective, the outcome of the research enables managers offirms active in the credit decision services market to comprehensively analyze revenue models ina structured fashion. Finally, the revenue model analysis framework assesses a revenue model’scompetitiveness and profitability, which contributes to the economical sustainability of a firm.

Forskningsfråga: Vilka metoder använder banker för att kontrollera informationen i årsredovisningar vid lån- och kreditgivning? Syfte:                           Syftet med studien är att identifiera vilka metoder svenska banker använder vid kontrollering av årsredovisningar i samband med lån- och kreditgivning, detta för att vidare identifiera om kreativ redovisning kan upptäckas med hjälp av dessa. Studien bidrar till ökad förståelse om kreativ redovisning och dess metoder.Metod:                         Studien har genomförts med hjälp av kvalitativ forskningsmetod. Primärdata har samlats in genom intervjuer. Sekundärdata som behandlats i studien har inhämtats från litteratur, vetenskapliga artiklar och hemsidor. Slutsats:                       Det har konstaterats att banker vanligtvis använder fem metoder för att kontrollera informationen i årsredovisningar i samband med lån- och kreditgivning. Däremot är det en generell bild då processen kan se olika ut beroende på förtroende för företag, verksamhet och bransch.Samtliga fem metoder framkommer i tidigare forskning för att upptäcka kreativ redovisning, vilket tyder på att kreativ redovisning kan upptäckas av banker om företagskundens finansiella ställning förändras eller inte återspeglar branschgenomsnittet. Utöver ovannämnda metoder begär banker underlag och inleder dialog med ledningen när avvikelser uppstår. Kreativ redovisning kan dock användas i syfte att bibehålla utvecklingen, vilket resulterar i att avvikelser nödvändigtvis inte behöver uppstå. Slutsatsen kan därmed dras att banker inte kommer upptäcka kreativ redovisning som inte resulterar i avvikelser, men att det finns möjlighet att upptäcka kreativ redovisning när avvikelser uppstår. Detta för att banker gör ytterligare kontroller i sådana fall. / Research question:   Which methods do banks use to analyse information when granting loans? Purpose:                     The purpose of the study is to identify which methods Swedish banks use while checking annual reports during the process of loan and credit granting. This, to further identify whether creative accounting can be detected using these methods. The study contributes to increased knowledge about creative accounting and its methods.Method:                       The study has been conducted using qualitative research methods. Primary data has been collected through interviews. The secondary data in the study has been collected from literature, scientific articles, and websites. Conclusion:                 It has been established that banks usually use five methods to check the information in annual reports in connection with credit and loan granting. However, it is a general picture as the process can look different depending on the trust in the company, business and industry.All five methods appear in previous research to detect creative accounting. This shows that creative accounting can be detected by banks if the business costumers financial position changes or does not reflect the industry average. In addition to the methods mentioned above, banks request documentation and initiates dialogue with management when deviations occur. However, creative accounting can be used with the aim of maintaining development, which results in deviations not necessarily having to occur. The conclusion can be drawn that banks will not detect creative accounting which does not result in deviations, but there is an opportunity to detect creative accounting when deviations occur. This is because banks make additional checks in such cases.

Introduktion Lån- och kreditgivning är en väsentlig del av dagens samhällsekonomi både när det gäller privatpersoner och företag. Om bankerna är för restriktiva till företagskreditgivning riskerar den ekonomiska tillväxten att påverkas. Vidare anses affärsbankerna ha blivit mindre riskvilliga. Det är en problematisk trend och faktum är att företag inte heller kan vara säker på att man får en objektiv bedömning av sin kreditansökan, då kreditgivares resonemang spelar en avgörande roll i kreditbedömningen. Bankens strukturella riktlinjer som kreditgivare ska förhålla sig till påverkar också hur banktjänstemännen fattar kreditbeslut. Syfte Studiens syfte är att utforska banktjänstemäns kreditbedömning samt dennas förankring i bankens struktur kontra tjänstemannens professionella bedömning. Metod Studien genomförs med en deduktiv ansats och kvalitativ metod. Empiriinsamlingen är baserad på semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Slutsats Studiens resultat visar att kreditgivare har ett stort utrymme när det kommer till den individuella bedömningen av en kreditsökande. Där bankens hjälpmedel slutar börjar det en tydlig individuell bedömningsfråga, om hur man väljer att gå vidare och vad man väljer att prioritera. Av empiriinsamlingen framgick det tydligt att 5C-modellen var en stor del av kreditbedömningen hos alla respondenter. Det mest intressanta var hur mycket samtliga respondenter betonade vikten av det personliga mötet med kunden och dess påverkan i kreditbedömningen. / Introduction Loan and credit is an essential part of today’s economy, both in term of private individuals and corporates. If the banks are too restrictive for corporate credit, the economic growth risks being affected. Furthermore, the banks are considered to be less willing to take risk. This is a problematic trend and the fact is that corporates cannot be sure that they get an objective assessment of their credit application. Thus, a creditors’ reasoning in their assessment plays a crucial role in a credit application. The bank´s structural guidelines that creditors must relate to also affect how the bank officials make credit decisions. Purpose: The aim of the study is to explore the bank official's credit assessment and its anchoring in the bank's structure versus the official's professional judgement. Method: The study is conducted with a deductive approach and qualitative method. The empirical collection is based on semi-structured interviews. Conclusion: The result of the study show that creditors have a considerable amount of space when it comes to the individual assessment of a credit applicant. Where the bank’s assistive tools end, a clear individual assessment begins, about how to choose to continue ahead. It becomes clear that the 5C model was a large part of the credit assessment of all respondents. The most important component of the five Cs is the capacity of repayment, as it is the one that generates revenue for the bank. What we consider to be the most interesting were how much all respondents emphasized the importance of the personal meeting and its impact on the credit decision.

「企業財務危機」向來為銀行及企業體所關注的重大課題，學術界對於此危機預警模型之研究篇幅亦不少，惟實務上卻甚少有金融機構將此等模型實際應用於授信決策。歸納其原因主要為樣本收集與統計方法運用的配合問題。本研究主要目的即擬藉廣泛蒐集銀行「逾期」與「正常」往來企業授信案，分別業別，分別建立一套能實際運用於銀行授信決策之企業財務危機預警模型。 　　本文以問卷收集省屬七行庫授信案件為樣本，其中包括紡織工業、金屬製品業、電工器材業、進出口貿易業及建築材料業等五個行業171家逾期公司及配對之171家正常公司，以其各項財務比率先作常態分配檢定，再分行業別分別比較逾期公司與正常公司財務特質有無差異，然後運用逐步迴歸分析法萃取關鍵變數，建立各行業之Logit迴歸預警模型。最後，確立各模型之臨界點，測試各模型之區別能力及預測能力，並比較整體公司模型與各行業別模型之預測能力。 　　研究結論： 　　（一）銀行授信戶財務比率分配均違反常態性。 　　（二）逾期公司相對於正常公司大部份財務特質均有顯著差異，且逾期公司具有較低變現性，高的財務槓桿性，低的經營能力及低的獲利力。 　　（三）本研究各行業別預警模型之預測正確率分別為：紡織工業88.24%、金屬製品業90%、電工器材業90.48%、進出口貿易業88.89%、建築材料業90%。 　　（四）最後以各行業之後期樣本測試整體公司模型，發現除金屬製品業及進出口貿易業其行業別預警模型與整體公司預警模型之預測正確率相同外，餘三種行業預警模型之預測正確率均較整體公司模型為高。顯示為有效提昇銀行授信財務危機預警模型的預測能力，依行業別分別建立模型，實有必要。

Bakgrund och problem: Det föreligger en problematik i kreditbedömningsprocessen som berör svårigheten att bedöma ett  bolags värde samt dess återbetalningsförmåga. Vanligtvis värderas organisationer utefter sina finansiella rapporter men eftersom de inte alltid inkluderar immateriella tillgångar i form av intellektuellt kapital skapas en informationsasymmetri. Informationsasymmetrin kan vara en orsak till eventuella felbedömningar av ett företags riskutsatthet och framtida utveckling och således till ett nekande av sökt kredit. Forskare lägger skulden på redovisningssystemet men vi vill lyfta frågan om problemet även kan ligga i kreditbedömningsprocessen. Syfte: Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka hur banker, i rollen som finansiärer, behandlar intellektuellt kapital hos kunskapsintensiva företag vid en kreditbedömning. Avsikten är att beskriva, tolka samt reflektera kring kreditprocessen för att påvisa vilken betydelse det intellektuella kapitalet har för kreditbeslutet. Metod/Empiri: Studien har utförts som en kvalitativ undersökning baserad på intervjuer och praktikfall. De fem storbankerna Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, SEB och Swedbank har agerat respondenter. Efter sammanställningen av empiriunderlaget jämfördes svaren mot den teoretiska referensramen. Påträffade samband och avvikelser mellan empiri och teori har i ett logiskt resonemang fått utgöra studiens analys. Slutsatser: Resultatet av studien visar att studiens respondenter i kreditbedömningsprocessen beaktar avsevärt fler faktorer, som teoretiskt benämns intellektuellt kapital, än vad de är medvetna om. Intellektuellt kapital har därmed en anmärkningsvärd inverkan på kreditbeslutet, även om det inte enskilt är avgörande för beslutet. Vidare visar studien att den främsta problematiken med intellektuellt kapital i kreditbedömningsprocessen rör värderingssvårigheten. / Background and problem: There is a problem in the credit valuation process relating to the difficulty of estimating the value of a company and its repayment ability. Generally organizations are valued by their financial statements but since financial statements not always include intangible assets in forms of intellectual capital an information asymmetry is created. The information asymmetry may be a reason for an incorrect assessment of a company’s risk exposure and future development and thus to a refusal of sought credit. Researchers blame the accounting system but we wish to raise the question whether the problem also may lie in the credit valuation process. Aim: The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate how banks treat intellectual capital in knowledge-intensive firms in a credit valuation process. The aim is to describe, interpret and reflect around the credit valuation process in order to demonstrate the importance of intellectual capital for the credit decision. Method/Empirical data: The study was conducted as a qualitative study based on interviews and case studies. Five of the largest banks in Sweden - Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, SEB and Swedbank - have acted as respondents. After compiling the empirical material the responses were compared with the theoretical framework. Located relations and differences between empiricism and theory constitute the analysis of the study. Conclusions: The results of this study show that the respondents in the credit valuation process examines significantly more factors, which in theory is defined intellectual capital, than they are aware of. Intellectual capital has thus a remarkable impact on the credit decision, although it does not individually determine the decision. The study also shows that the main problem with intellectual capital in the credit valuation process is the difficulty of valuation.

Esta tese trata de crédito, não da análise dos demonstrativos financeiros, e sim a partir do momento em que o resultado de uma análise criteriosa e competente é colocada à disposição do comitê para decidir pela concessão ou não do crédito. A decisão de crédito é nosso enfoque principal. A tese está dividida em quatro partes. Na primeira parte fazemos uma revisão bibliográfica sobre crédito, dos fundamentos históricos à aplicação de modelos sofisticados de administração de carteiras (o Creditmetrics), passando pelo Estado da Arte das técnicas de credit scoring. A segunda parte trata dos fundamentos da teoria da análise da decisão, onde discutimos e analisamos o comportamento político e racional nas organizações, e os principais problemas decorrentes de atitudes indesejáveis como escalation, groupthink e bandwagon. A terceira parte discorre, inicialmente, sobre a pesquisa e sua metodologia, apresentando as hipóteses a serem testadas. Na seqüência, com base em dezoito entrevistas com diretores das principais entidades bancárias do país, descrevemos o processo geral para a concessão de crédito para grandes corporações e analisamos sete casos de concessões de crédito malsucedidas. Finalmente, com uma amostra de 54 bancos, realizamos a análise estatística dos resultados buscando comprovar nossas hipóteses de pesquisa. Na quarta e última parte apresentamos o sumário e conclusões da tese. Podemos destacar a relevância dos aspectos comportamentais, como fundamento da tomada de decisão e crédito: os testes realizados comprovam a influência do comportamento racional como redutor do índice de inadimplência; enquanto os sintomas de comportamento político, escalation e groupthink contribuem para o aumento do índice de inadimplência. / This thesis is concerned with credit decision and not with financial statements analysis. More specifically, it is focused on the decision making process of the credit committee once the results of a competent anlysis is avalaible. The thesis is divided in four parts. In the first we present a review about credit, from its historical developments up to the applications of sophisticated portfolio management models and other modern techniques. The second part deals with the fundamentals of decision theory. We discuss ans analyze political and rational decision behaviors within organizations, and phenomenon such as escalation, groupthink and bandwagon. The third part presents, initially, the research problem, its methodology and the hypothesis to be tested. Subsequently, based on eighteen interviews with bank executives in Brazil, we describe the decision processes employed in the concession of credits to large corporations. We also analyze seven cases of unsuccessful credit decisions. Finally we present the statistical analysis of a survey by questionnaires from 54 Brazilian banks. In the fourth and last part we present the conclusions of this thesis. The key results in the importance of behavioral aspects in the credit decision processes: the statistical tests confirm that the rational behavior mitigates the bankruptcy index; while the political behavior, escalation and groupthink contribute to an increment of the banruptcy index.

Esta tese trata de crédito, não da análise dos demonstrativos financeiros, e sim a partir do momento em que o resultado de uma análise criteriosa e competente é colocada à disposição do comitê para decidir pela concessão ou não do crédito. A decisão de crédito é nosso enfoque principal. A tese está dividida em quatro partes. Na primeira parte fazemos uma revisão bibliográfica sobre crédito, dos fundamentos históricos à aplicação de modelos sofisticados de administração de carteiras (o Creditmetrics), passando pelo Estado da Arte das técnicas de credit scoring. A segunda parte trata dos fundamentos da teoria da análise da decisão, onde discutimos e analisamos o comportamento político e racional nas organizações, e os principais problemas decorrentes de atitudes indesejáveis como escalation, groupthink e bandwagon. A terceira parte discorre, inicialmente, sobre a pesquisa e sua metodologia, apresentando as hipóteses a serem testadas. Na seqüência, com base em dezoito entrevistas com diretores das principais entidades bancárias do país, descrevemos o processo geral para a concessão de crédito para grandes corporações e analisamos sete casos de concessões de crédito malsucedidas. Finalmente, com uma amostra de 54 bancos, realizamos a análise estatística dos resultados buscando comprovar nossas hipóteses de pesquisa. Na quarta e última parte apresentamos o sumário e conclusões da tese. Podemos destacar a relevância dos aspectos comportamentais, como fundamento da tomada de decisão e crédito: os testes realizados comprovam a influência do comportamento racional como redutor do índice de inadimplência; enquanto os sintomas de comportamento político, escalation e groupthink contribuem para o aumento do índice de inadimplência. / This thesis is concerned with credit decision and not with financial statements analysis. More specifically, it is focused on the decision making process of the credit committee once the results of a competent anlysis is avalaible. The thesis is divided in four parts. In the first we present a review about credit, from its historical developments up to the applications of sophisticated portfolio management models and other modern techniques. The second part deals with the fundamentals of decision theory. We discuss ans analyze political and rational decision behaviors within organizations, and phenomenon such as escalation, groupthink and bandwagon. The third part presents, initially, the research problem, its methodology and the hypothesis to be tested. Subsequently, based on eighteen interviews with bank executives in Brazil, we describe the decision processes employed in the concession of credits to large corporations. We also analyze seven cases of unsuccessful credit decisions. Finally we present the statistical analysis of a survey by questionnaires from 54 Brazilian banks. In the fourth and last part we present the conclusions of this thesis. The key results in the importance of behavioral aspects in the credit decision processes: the statistical tests confirm that the rational behavior mitigates the bankruptcy index; while the political behavior, escalation and groupthink contribute to an increment of the banruptcy index.