Government Lobbying on Employer Pension Accounting and Reporting

• In Event: Teaching & Governance

Abstract

This study addresses the question of why some governments submitted letters of comment to the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) prior to the issuance of GASB Statement No. 68 Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pension (GASB 2012b). Six hundred fifty letters were submitted, 76% of these were form letters. The effort exerted to influence government pension accounting standards reflects the political and economic importance of public pension plans. Results from a model comparing states submitting letters of comment with those not commenting indicate letters more frequently were submitted by states for which the obligation for unfunded benefits is smaller relative to state resources, per capita debt is lower, more state citizens are plan participants or beneficiaries, and the highest ranked accounting staff member signing the state’s annual financial reports has one or more professional certifications. The results are consistent with plan administrators signaling quality by submitting comment letters to GASB.

Authors

• Mary S Stone, University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa

• Gregg Bell, University of Alabama