| IRISKt | idiosyncratic risk - the standard deviation of the residual (multiplied by 10) from regressing the daily stock return (ret) on the CRSP value-weighted return (vwretd) for the one-year period from the beginning of the fourth month of fiscal year t until the end of the third month of year t+1. |
| IRISKt3 | idiosyncratic risk - the standard deviation of the residual (multiplied by 10) from regressing the daily stock return (ret) on the CRSP value-weighted return (vwretd) for the three-year period from the beginning of the fourth month of fiscal year t-2 until the end of the third month of year t+1. |
| IRISKt5 | idiosyncratic risk - the standard deviation of the residual (multiplied by 10) from regressing the daily stock return (ret) on the CRSP value-weighted return (vwretd) for the five-year period from the beginning of the fourth month of fiscal year t-4 until the end of the third month of year t+1. |
| CEt | the market value of common equity at the end of year t (csho*prcc_f). |
| CLt | current liabilities at the end of year t (lct). |
| NCLt | noncurrent liabilities at the end of year t (lt – lct – mib). |
| TOLt | total operating liabilities at the end of year t (lt – dlc – dltt – dclo – mib). |
| TFLt | total financial liabilities at the end of year t (dlc + dltt + dclo). |
| COLt | current operating liabilities at the end of year t (lct – dlc). |
| NCOLt | noncurrent operating liabilities at the end of year t (TOLt – COLt). |
| STDt | current financial liabilities (short-term debt) at the end of year t (dlc). STD includes short-term notes payable and the current portion of long-term debt. |
| NCFLt | noncurrent financial liabilities at the end of year t (dltt + dclo). |
| COLxt | current operating liabilities (excluding taxes payable) at the end of year t (lct-txp-dlc). COLx includes accounts payable, accrued expenses, and other current liabilities (current portion of deferred taxes, unearned revenue, unearned premiums, acceptances outstanding, and loans payable on derivatives), according to Compustat. |
| IPt | income taxes payable at end of year t (txp). |
| DTXt | deferred tax liability at the end of year t (txdb). |
| ONCLt | other noncurrent liabilities at the end of year t (lt – lct – dltt –dclo – txdb – mib). It consists of pension liabilities, contingent liabilities, accounts payable due after one year, assigned accounts receivable, customer deposits, negative goodwill, reserves, foreign exchange losses, facility realignment and relocation, reserves for self-insurance, and investment tax credits, according to Compustat. |
| LTDt | long-term debt at the end of year t (dltt). |
| CapLt | capital leases at the end of year t (dclo). |
| TLt | total liabilities at the end of year t (lt-mib) |
| PSt | preferred stock at the end of year t (pstk). |
| PSRt | redeemable preferred stock at the end of year t (pstkr). |
| PSNRt | nonredeemable preferred stock at the end of t (pstkn). |
| PSCt | convertible preferred stock at the end of year t (pstkc). |
| PSNCt | non-convertible preferred stock at the end of year t (pstk – pstkc). |
| STD_ROAt | The standard deviation of ROA for years t, t-1, and t-2. ROA is equal to net income before interest and income taxes (oiadp) scaled by total assets. |
| BID_ASKt | The bid-ask spread equal to (Aski,t – Bidi,t)/Mi,t; where Aski,t is the ask price of stock i on day t, Bidi,t is the bid price of stock i on day t, and Mi,t is the mean of Aski,t and Bidi,t. We use the bid-ask spread three months after the fiscal year ends, consistent with the return window for computing idiosyncratic risk. |
| IND_DUMMIES | dummy variables based on Fama and French (1997) 48 industries. |
| SIZE_DUMMIES | dummy variables based on size deciles using break-points from the market value of NYSE stocks on the 1st trading date of July in each year. |
| BM_DUMMIES | dummy variables based on book-to-market ratio deciles. Each firm-year’s book-to-market ratio is calculated as the calendar year-end market value divided by the fiscal year-end book equity value. |
| YEAR_DUMMIES | dummy variables based on calendar year. |
| ALTMANt | Altman (1968) bankruptcy prediction z-score for year t, computed as: 1.2X1+ 1.4X2+ 3.3X3+ 0.6X4+ 0.999X5; where X1 = working capital (act-lct)/total assets (at), X2 = retained earnings (re)/total assets, X3 = earnings before interest and tax (ebit)/total assets, X4= market value of equity (csho*prcc_f + pstk)/total liabilities (lt), and X5 = sales (sale)/total assets. |