1step,rule,n_before,n_after,n_removed,rationale21_drop_rating_2025,drop column rating_2025 (known 2025 > end of year t),2140,2140,0,"Information-availability rule; column removal, no rows removed"32_drop_exact_duplicates,"drop exact duplicate rows (all columns identical), keep first",2140,2100,40,Assembly error: same firm-year repeated with identical values; one intended row per firm-year43_drop_missing_outcome,drop rows with default_next missing (not imputed),2100,1800,300,Outcome year not observed at data cut (end 2022); missing by year: 2022:30054_drop_missing_predictors,drop rows with any missing predictor,1800,1800,0,Complete-case requirement for OLS (none expected)6