An out-of-sample framework for TOPSIS-based classifiers with application in bankruptcy prediction

Since the publication of the seminal paper by Hwang and Yoon (1981) proposing Technique for Order Performance by the Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), a substantial number of papers used this technique in a variety of applications requiring a ranking of alternatives. Very few papers use TOPSIS as a classifier (e.g. Wu and Olson, 2006; Abd-El Fattah et al., 2013) and report a good performance as in-sample classifiers. However, in practice, its use in predicting discrete variables such as risk class belonging is limited by the lack of an out-of-sample evaluation framework. In this paper, we fill this gap by proposing an integrated in-sample and out-of-sample framework for TOPSIS classifiers and test its performance on a UK dataset of bankrupt and non-bankrupt firms listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) during 2010–2014. Empirical results show an outstanding predictive performance both in-sample and out-of-sample and thus opens a new avenue for research and applications in risk modelling and analysis using TOPSIS as a non-parametric classifier and makes it a real contender in industry applications in banking and investment. In addition, the proposed framework is robust to a variety of implementation decisions.