Voluntary Pension Funding in Germany and the Effect of International Accounting

62 Pages Posted: 19 Mar 2008 Last revised: 28 Feb 2010

See all articles by Christian Stadler

Christian Stadler

University of London - Royal Holloway College

Sebastian Lobe

University of Maine - Maine Business School

Date Written: February 25, 2010

Abstract

This paper empirically analyzes voluntary pension funding. Using data of German company pension plans from 1998 to 2006, it documents that traditionally unfunded plans have been increasingly replaced, especially by funding Contractual Trust Arrangements (CTAs). International influences such as pension funding abroad are a major determinant of this shift in corporate financial policy but financial factors such as profitability are not found to have an important effect. We also investigate the consequences of applying IAS/IFRS or US GAAP instead of German GAAP and find evidence that supports the hypothesis that international accounting has a positive effect on voluntary pension funding in Germany.

Keywords: pension funding, pension accounting, international accounting, Germany

JEL Classification: G23, G32, M41

Suggested Citation

Stadler, Christian and Lobe, Sebastian, Voluntary Pension Funding in Germany and the Effect of International Accounting (February 25, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1075222 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1075222

Christian Stadler (Contact Author)

University of London - Royal Holloway College ( email )

Egham
Surrey, Egham TW20 0EX
United Kingdom

Sebastian Lobe

University of Maine - Maine Business School ( email )

Orono, ME 04469
United States
+1 (207) 581-1949 (Phone)

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