In examining accounting motivations for a DB plan freeze we consider and control
for other factors that potentially influence the pension freeze decision. First, significant
pension regulation has paralleled the recent pension accounting changes in the USA. The
Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) imposes tougher funding rules and significantly
increases premiums paid by plan sponsors to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
(PBGC). Second, with the start of the new millennium, plan sponsors faced adverse
economic conditions negatively affecting both the required funding and the financial
reporting results of their DB pension plans.
A combination of falling equity prices, whichreduce the fair value of pension plan assets, and falling interest rates that increase the
value of pension liabilities has created what analysts have called a ‘‘perfect storm’’ of
economic forces affecting DB plans (Munnell and Soto, 2007).