Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Habegger, Wendy Dawn
Author's Email Address	wdh1835@cob.fsu.edu
URN	etd-04112005-121040
Title	An Investigation of Financial Assurance Mechanisms for Environmental Liabilities
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy
Department	Finance, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Gary Benesh Committee Co-Chair Pamela Peterson-Drake Committee Co-Chair Pamela Coats Committee Member Patrick Maroney Committee Member
Keywords	Financial Assurance Assurance Mechanism Altman Z-Score Bankruptcy Environmental Protection Agency
Date of Defense	2005-04-04
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract Firms are now required to disclose environmental activities and obligations. Prior, presumably viable firms failed to include such obligations on financials. Firms in bankruptcy are often successful in discharging their environmentally liabilities often at great cost to the public. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine existing financial tests companies use to assure the Environmental Protection Agency that they can satisfy their environmental obligations. Passing these tests allows firms to continue engaging in potentially hazardous lines of business without actually allocating the necessary funds. I examine the ability of the tests to detect firms that eventually go bankrupt. I compare the performance of the tests to several methods used to predict bankruptcy such as the Altman Z-Score models, Grice and Ingram’s definition of distress, bond ratings, and auditor opinion. I also test the sensitivity of the financial tests to varying cost of closure.
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