Stakeholder Conflicts and Cash Flow Shocks: Evidence from Changes in ERISA Pension Funding Rules

Abstract

In 2012, Congress passed Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (“MAP-21”), which changed the ERISA pension funding rules such that mandatory pension contributions decreased. Advocates for the bill argued that reducing mandatory contributions would increase firms’ investment. In contrast, I do not find an average increase in investment among the firms benefiting from MAP-21. Rather, I find that firms either hold pension funding relief on their balance sheets as liquid assets or pay out pension funding relief to shareholders. To the extent that managers increase investment in response to MAP-21, it is concentrated in firms with weak governance or ineffective internal controls.

Keywords: MAP-21, pension accounting, ERISA pension funding, investment, payout policy, actuarial manipulation

JEL Classification: M48, G31, G35, J32