What are Corporate Pension Liabilities?
Abstract
Analyses of corporate pension plans often make unstated assumptions about an implicit labor contract. An example of the effect of such an assumption is that many mistakenly believe that if a worker's benefits are tied to final salary, he is protected against inflation until retirement. Also, the value of a worker's claims is often considered to be independent of the status of the firm's pension fund. These “implicit contract” assumptions are examined and questioned. The implications of analyzed pension liabilities in a manner consistent with the analysis of other corporate liabilities are explored.
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- Authors
- Bulow, J. I.
- Affiliations
- National Bureau of Economic Research (US)
- Corresponding author
- Bulow, Jeremy I.
- Venue
- The Quarterly Journal of Economics
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1982-08
- Volume
- 97
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 435
- ISSN
- 0033-5533 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2146874824
- Cited by
- 200
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 48.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Quarterly Journal of Economics (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Accounting › Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Accounting › Accounting Theory and Financial Reporting
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Accounting › Corporate Finance and Governance
- Keywords
- pension plans, inflation protection, corporate liability
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