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Pension Funding Decisions, Interest Rate Assumptions and Share Prices

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  • Martin Feldstein
  • Randall Morck

Abstract

This paper explores how unfunded pension obligations affect the market values of firms. Finns appear to choose the interest rate they use in discounting future benefit obligations so as to balance the tax advantages of a low rate against the more healthy looking annual reports a high rate allows. Investors seem to penetrate this ruse and value firms as if obligations were figured at a standard rate. The rate thus used seems to be much lower than current long term interest rates. Pension liabilities are therefore overemphasized by the market. There is also some evidence that pension assets are undervalued. This suggests that growth of the private pension system might increase savings by investors and firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Feldstein & Randall Morck, 1982. "Pension Funding Decisions, Interest Rate Assumptions and Share Prices," NBER Working Papers 0938, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:0938
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    Cited by:

    1. Julia Lynn Coronado & Steven A. Sharpe, 2003. "Did Pension Plan Accounting Contribute to a Stock Market Bubble?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 34(1), pages 323-371.
    2. Steven G. Allen & Robert L. Clark, 1987. "Pensions and Firm Performance," NBER Working Papers 2266, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Francesco Franzoni & José M. Marín, 2006. "Pension Plan Funding and Stock Market Efficiency," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(2), pages 921-956, April.
    4. Fried, Abraham & Davis-Friday, Paquita & Davis, Harry Z., 2014. "The impact of duration on management's discount rate choice," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 217-221.
    5. Jin, Li & Merton, Robert C. & Bodie, Zvi, 2006. "Do a firm's equity returns reflect the risk of its pension plan?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 1-26, July.
    6. Robert Holzmann & Robert Palacios & Asta Zviniene, 2001. "On the Economics and Scope of Implicit Pension Debt: An International Perspective," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 28(1), pages 97-129, March.
    7. Coronado, Julia & Mitchell, Olivia S. & Sharpe, Steven A. & Blake Nesbitt, S., 2008. "Footnotes aren't enough: the impact of pension accounting on stock values," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(3), pages 257-276, November.
    8. Zvi Bodie & Jay O. Light & Randall Morck, 1987. "Funding and Asset Allocation in Corporate Pension Plans: An Empirical Investigation," NBER Chapters, in: Issues in Pension Economics, pages 15-48, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Sharad Asthana, 2007. "Do Highly Compensated Participants Influence The Management Of Qualified Pension Plans?," Working Papers 0025, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    10. Divya Anantharaman, 2017. "The role of specialists in financial reporting: Evidence from pension accounting," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1261-1306, September.
    11. Steven G. Allen & Robert L. Clark, 1985. "Unions, Pension Wealth, and Age-Compensation Profiles," NBER Working Papers 1677, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Pesando, James E, 1987. "Discontinuities in Pension Benefit Formulas and the Spot Model of the Labor Market: Implications for Financial Economists," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 25(2), pages 215-238, April.
    13. Abraham N. Fried, 2013. "An Event Study Analysis of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 158," Accounting and Finance Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 2(2), pages 1-45, May.
    14. B. Douglas Bernheim & John B. Shoven, 1988. "Pension Funding and Saving," NBER Chapters, in: Pensions in the U.S. Economy, pages 85-114, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Tao, Qizhi & Chen, Carl & Lu, Rui & Zhang, Ting, 2017. "Underfunding or distress? An analysis of corporate pension underfunding and the cross-section of expected stock returns," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 116-133.
    16. Choy, Helen & Lin, Juichia & Officer, Micah S., 2014. "Does freezing a defined benefit pension plan affect firm risk?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 1-21.
    17. Fried, Abraham N. & Davis-Friday, Paquita Y., 2013. "Economic consequences of mandatory GAAP changes: The case of SFAS No. 158," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 186-194.
    18. Nakajima, Kan & Sasaki, Takafumi, 2010. "Unfunded pension liabilities and stock returns," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 47-63, January.
    19. Jullavut Kittiakaraskun & Yiuman Tse & George H.K. Wang, 2011. "The Impact of Trading Activity by Trader Types on Asymmetric Volatility in Nasdaq-100 Index Futures," Working Papers 0021, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    20. Francesco Franzoni & José M. Marín, 2003. "Pension Plan Funding and Market Efficiency," Working Papers 31, Barcelona School of Economics.
    21. Paul J. M. Klumpes & Kevin McMeeking, 2007. "Stock Market Sensitivity to U.K. Firms' Pension Discounting Assumptions," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 10(2), pages 221-246, September.
    22. Berchtold, Demian & Dichter, Oliver & Loderer, Claudio & Waelchli, Urs, 2021. "Pension risk and corporate investment distortion," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    23. Kamakshya Trivedi & Garry Young, 2006. "Defined benefit company pensions and corporate valuations: simulation and empirical evidence from the United Kingdom," Bank of England working papers 289, Bank of England.

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