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Context: Machine Learning (ML) is a disruptive concept that has given rise to and generated interest in different applications in many fields of study. The purpose of Machine Learning is to solve real-life problems by automatically learning and improving from experience without being explicitly programmed for a specific problem, but for a generic type of problem. This article approaches the different applications of ML in a series of econometric methods. Objective: The objective of this research is to identify the latest applications and do a comparative study of the performance of econometric and ML models. The study aimed to find empirical evidence for the performance of ML algorithms being superior to traditional econometric models. The Methodology of systematic mapping of literature has been followed to carry out this research, according to the guidelines established by [39], and [58] that facilitate the identification of studies published about this subject. Results: The results show, that in most cases ML outperforms econometric models, while in other cases the best performance has been achieved by combining traditional methods and ML applications. Conclusion: inclusion and exclusions criteria have been applied and 52 articles closely related articles have been reviewed. The conclusion drawn from this research is that it is a field that is growing, which is something that is well known nowadays and that there is no certainty as to the performance of ML being always superior to that of econometric models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology that permits to automate binary classification using the minimum possible number of attributes. In this methodology, the success of the binary prediction does not lie in the accuracy of an algorithm but in the evaluation metrics, which give information about the goodness of fit; which is an important factor when the data batch is unbalanced. The proposed methodology assesses the possible biases in identifying one algorithm as the best performer when considering the goodness of fit of an algorithm through evaluation metrics. The dimension of data has been reduced through the cumulative explained variance. Then, the performance of six machine learning classification models has been compared through Matthew correlation coefficient (MCC), area under curve – receiver operating characteristic (ROC-AUC), and area under curve – precision-recall (AUC-PR). The results show graphically and numerically how the evaluation metrics interfere with the most optimal outcome of an algorithm. The algorithms with the best performance in terms of evaluation metrics have been random forest and gradient boosting. In the imbalanced datasets, MCC has provided better prediction results than ROC-AUC or AUC-PR. The proposed methodology is adapted to the case of bankruptcy prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes an adaptable hybrid model for recommending effective investments in different scenarios. Currently, a wide variety of methodologies are used for company valuation, especially those that take into account financial statements. However, for private held companies, there is no method that would be capable of predicting, with full certainty, the future success of an investment. The Optimal Capital Investment Case-Base Reasoning (OCI-CBR) consists of a case-based reasoning system that uses a classification algorithm to prune the case base according to a projected increase in certain company attributes. Once the cases have been pruned and the case is fed with the most profitable investment opportunities, the case-based reasoning system recommends optimal investments to potential investors. The complete model is conceived as an intelligent hybrid model that optimizes the case base by employing different algorithms for data retrieval and reuse. The system makes recommendations based on the investor's preferences and the investment decisions of other investors with similar profiles or interests. • Hybrid decision support system for capital investment. • Machine learning pruning techniques for fault detection and diagnosis of companies. • A CBR methodology is used to make recommendations for optimal investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]