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The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which pension accounting represents an enabling or emancipatory accounting.

Many countries are facing a so‐called “pensions crisis” which is reflected in and arguably, to some extent at least, is precipitated by accounting. Occupational pensions in the UK are focused upon and their role in the pension crisis discussed. The enabling or emancipatory potential of the internet for accounting for occupational pension schemes is explored. The contents of the web sites of the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange (FTSE 100) are examined in terms of the elements of an enabling accounting, as set out by Gallhofer and Haslam in 1997. Alternative forms of accounting for pensions, including accounts by trade unions and others, are also examined.

The full possibilities of the internet have not yet been mobilised in respect of accounting for occupational pension schemes and companies' actions appear to be driven by the hegemony of the market rather than a concern for the social wellbeing of pensioners. A number of inequalities are evident.

The majority of UK employees have no occupational pension. The paper therefore only addresses one aspect of the pension crisis.

Suggests how corporate web sites could be improved through the provision of dedicated pensions sections and increased pensions' disclosures. Argues that alternative accounts provided by trade unions, organisations associated with the elderly and others are required to provide counter accounts. Calls for more education about the importance of saving from an early age.

Applies elements of an enabling accounting to a specific accounting problem, accounting for pensions.

The choice of accounting methods is critical in measuring the performance and sustainability of a public defined benefit pension (DBP) plan, and such measurement has an impact on the effectiveness of the entire pension system. Prior literature rarely discusses the choice and rationale of the accounting assumptions for public DBP plans. This study fills the gap by investigating whether crucial plan characteristics, including operational performance, financial health, sponsor fiscal stress, and audit quality, are associated with the accounting assumptions of public DBP plans.

The sample includes 1,170 plan-years from the intersection of the Center for Retirement Research and public DBPs' annual financial reports for the years 2001–2013. This study develops regression models to examine the relationship between the characteristics of public DBP practices and DBP accounting choices.

The empirical results show that the public DBPs that have better investment performance, higher funding status, less fiscal stress, and that are audited by Big 4 accounting firms are more likely to adopt conservative accounting choices.

The study documents the impact of crucial pension plan characteristics on public DBP managers' accounting choices, which were not extensively discussed in pension literature. The findings help us understand the rationale for employing different accounting treatments in the context of public pension fund practices. In addition, the study sheds light on policy implications for the future reform of public pension regulations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the significant clustering of defined benefit (DB) pension plan freeze announcements during 2001‐2006 is motivated at least in part by accounting concerns due to the Financial Accounting Standards Board's pending adoption of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 158 (SFAS 158).

Using logistic regression models, the paper compares 147 “freeze firms” with a matched sample of firms that did not announce a DB plan freeze. Empirical models control for other DB plan motives including as a response to stricter contribution requirements under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and improving the firm's competitive position.

The potential SFAS 158 impact is significantly associated with firms' decisions to freeze their DB plans. Firm profitability is also significantly associated with the freeze decision. However, there is no significant association between cash flow positions or pension plan contributions and the freeze decision.

It is possible that economic conditions adversely affecting the funded status of DB plans also motivate the freeze decision. While this study controls for the economic environment, economic factors could exacerbate the potential effect of SFAS 158.

This paper considers potential effects of accounting policy by examining its influence on real management actions and has consequences for a variety of stakeholders including investors, creditors, and, importantly, pension beneficiaries and workers, as DB plans represent implicit contracts between firms and their employees.

The purpose of this paper is to examine, in the context of movement towards a fair‐value based pension accounting standard, the value relevance of both recognized and disclosed pension accounting information.

Using hand‐collected data from Fortune 200 firms, this study includes both recognized and disclosed pension accounting measures (aggregated and disaggregated) in multivariate regression models. The investigation employs tests of relative and incremental value relevance in both equity and credit rating evaluation contexts.

Findings indicate that pension information recognized under a fair‐value‐based accounting model is no more or less value relevant than pension information recognized under the SFAS 87 model. Also, the disclosed off‐balance sheet pension amount is incrementally value relevant for determining share prices. However, it is not value relevant for the credit rating decision.

This study tests the relevance and reliability of accounting information jointly. Theoretically, however, relevance and reliability affect information usefulness and, thus, valuation decisions independently.

This paper yields a number of significant implications for standard setters. The unique evidence that investors apply off‐balance sheet pension amounts in the equity valuation context implies that required recognition under a fair‐value standard may not provide a significant incremental benefit over DB plan disclosures. However, such a standard may yield potential improvements in the credit rating decision context and may be much more likely to impact credit rating decisions going forward. Considering the continued shift towards fair‐value‐based pension accounting standards internationally, recognizing transitory elements of fair‐value pension cost separately from operating income is essential for mitigating any potential loss in value relevance.

The recent decline in funding levels of defined benefit pension plans (DBPs) has attracted the attention of regulators in Australia and other jurisdictions. In light of such scrutiny, this study provides timely empirical evidence of the economic and regulatory implications of the recent change in the financial position of DBPs sponsored by Australian listed companies. We identify that over the four‐year period from 2000 to 2003 the frequencies of both accrued benefits deficits and vested benefits deficits increased sharply after 2001. Coinciding with the increased incidence of deficits, the time lag in measuring accrued and vested benefits declined significantly. Controlling for firms taking contribution holidays, we find that the market prices vested benefits surpluses and deficits, and accrued benefits deficits, but not accrued benefits surpluses. This asymmetric treatment of firms’ superannuation funding positions is consistent with accounting conservatism theories and, as a consequence, has implications for recent adoption of IFRS accounting standards requiring Australian companies to recognise both accrued benefits surpluses and deficits.

This study investigates the incremental value‐relevance of non‐pension postretirement benefit obligations and expenses (disclosed by firms pursuant to SFAS 106). Our study is motivated by previously published evidences that investors value the SFAS 106 measure of postretirement benefit obligations. However, prior research does not address incremental value‐relevance of the SFAS 106. We address two related questions. First, “do the SFAS 106 measures of non‐pension postretirement benefit obligations and expenses provide incremental value relevance (after controlling for information available from non‐SFAS 106 sources).” Second, “under what circumstances are the SFAS‐106 measures more likely to provide incremental value relevance.” The key findings of this paper are: (i) on average, SFAS 106 measures of postretirement benefit obligations and expenses have no significant incremental value‐relevance after controlling for non‐SFAS 106 information; and (ii) labor intensity and the magnitude of postretirement benefit obligation increases the incremental value‐relevance of SFAS 106 measures.

We examine and compare funding status, actuarial assumptions and asset investment allocations of defined benefit pension plans in the public and private sectors across time, using information as reported under GASB and FASB. We find that pension plans in both sectors are underfunded and that inferences about pension funding in the public sector would be different if pension assets' fair values were required in the computation of funding status. Actuarial assumptions of public employee plans appear to be both more optimistic and less variable than those of private sector plans. Finally, we document that public sector plans allocate invested assets somewhat differently than in the private sector, although our findings do not confirm anecdotal reports of riskier pension investment strategies relative to the private sector.

This paper explores the background to the work of the Accounting Standards Committee in attempting to formulate an accounting standard on pension costs for the United Kingdom. Taking into account fundamental accounting concepts and typical actuarial practice, suggestions are made for a practical system of treatment and disclosure of pension costs in the employer's accounts.

This study aims to examine whether socially responsible firms have well-funded employee pension programs and whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance is associated with management discretionary choice of pension accounting assumptions.

The current study examines the impact of CSR performance on two measures of pension funding and two pension accounting assumptions using regression analysis. This study uses a panel data of 13,099 firms-years across 1,428 US firms from 1992 to 2015.

Firms with higher CSR scores report higher pension net assets and are less likely to have underfunded pension than their counterparts. These firms also adopt more responsible (conservative) pension accounting assumptions (i.e. lower discount rate and a higher rate of compensation increase) to estimate pension benefit obligations. Results are stronger for firms that operate in the materials and industrial sectors and for the post-2000 period when underfunded pension has become more prevalent. Firms with higher CSR scores are also less likely to have a pension freeze.

This study examines the signaling role of CSR by using the signaling theory to explain how senders view the signaling process as a channel to build their reputation and the correspondent inference theory to explain how receivers process and assess the signal. It provides evidence that the signal provided by CSR score is reliable in assessing firms’ commitment to non-investing stakeholders, such as employees, providing valuable information for potential employees making career decisions and for managers considering employee pension as part of corporate strategies to attract high quality workforce. This study provides inputs for public accountants providing assurance services that CSR performance has a significant impact on management reporting choices. This study also provides evidence that CSR could be considered a private provision of public goods that internalize the negative externality of the prevalent underfunded pension phenomenon.