Searching for an effective accounting-based score of firm performance: a comparative study between different synthesis techniques

The need for an effective comprehensive financial performance score of the firm derived from accounting-based variables is increasingly felt in the stream of empirical research on relationships between financial performance and other dimensions of corporate performance. The solution to this problem must be pursued in literature on statistical-mathematical techniques to synthesize financial performance through financial ratios derived from financial statements. Until now, however, studies have mainly focused on mathematical modeling and ranking of companies, without using appropriate benchmarks to verify the relevance of the scores obtained and to establish, from a comparative perspective between different techniques, which one provides the assessment that best summarizes financial performance. To make a contribution to this research gap, using a sample of 845 companies observed from 2014 to 2020, we compared Data Envelopment Analysis and Principal Component Analysis with two other applications based on new methodologies derived from the Multi-Criteria Decision Methods: The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and Grey Relational Analysis. We developed the 4 techniques on a set of 9 financial ratios expressive of profitability and operating efficiency, solvency, and liquidity, and Tobin's q was used as a benchmark to compare the results provided by the 4 techniques and identify the best performing one. We found that TOPSIS is the most effective methodology for synthesizing an effective accounting-based score of the firm’s financial performance.