| Variable | Definitions |
| lnSG & A | Log(SG & Ait/SG & Ait−1), SG&A it are sales and management expenses |
| lnRev | Log(Revit/Revit−1), Revit are operating income |
| DEC | Equal to 1 when sales in year t are smaller than sales in year t − 1, and 0 otherwise |
| PEP | Equals 1 if implement private equity placement in year t or year t + 1, and 0 otherwise |
| SOE | Equals 1 if owned by the state, and 0 otherwise |
| Big4 | Equals 1 if audited by the big-four, and 0 otherwise |
| SuccDecre | Equals 1 if sales have decreased in two consecutive years, and 0 otherwise |
| GdpGrowth | Growth in GDP in year t |
| EI | the ratio of total number of employees over sales(million) |
| AI | the ratio of total assets over sales |