Regulatory effects, exacerbated by economic conditions, thus, potentially constrain
cash flow positions and increase the competitive disadvantage of firms sponsoring
DB plans. In fact, conserving cash flows and preserving competitive advantages are
factors that corporate managements frequently cite as the main drivers of their DB
plan freeze decisions[6].We therefore control for these factors in examining accounting
rationales for the pension freeze decision. We control for regulatory and general
economic factors in two ways. First, we use a matched-sample design in which we
pair each ‘‘freeze firm’’ with an industry-, size-, and year-matched ‘‘non-freeze firm,’’
effectively controlling for macroeconomic and industry-specific conditions. Second, we
directly control for DB plan cash flow demands and competitive pressures.We address
cash flow concerns by controlling for the ratio of DB plan contributions to cash flow
from operations. The rationale behind this is that firms with higher ratios currently are
more constrained generally and may be less able to absorb any contribution increases
required by the PPA. We also control for a firm’s relative competitive position using
return-on-assets measures since sub-par financial performance may motivate firms to
reduce their DB plan exposure to improve or maintain a competitive position.