1step,rule,n_before,n_after,n_removed,rationale21_drop_rating_2025,"remove column rating_2025 (known 2025, uses realised defaults)",2140,2140,0,"violates information-availability rule (post-origin, outcome-derived)"32_drop_exact_duplicates,drop exact duplicate firm-year rows (keep first),2140,2100,40,assembly error: identical repeated firm-year records would double-count43_drop_missing_outcome,drop rows with default_next missing,2100,1800,300,outcome not observed at data cut (end 2022); outcomes are not imputed54_drop_missing_predictors,drop rows with any missing predictor,1800,1800,0,complete-case OLS6