3. Hypothesis development
We begin our analysis by examining the incentives states have to understate their pension funding gaps. Watts and
Zimmerman (1978) suggest that in the for-profit sector there are a variety of different motivations (like debt, compensation
contracts, and political forces) that influence the accounting choices made by firms. In the accounting literature, there are
significantly fewer theoretical underpinnings for the factors affecting the accounting choices made by governmental
entities. In the political science literature, Stiglitz (2002) highlights the tension underlying a government's incentives to be
transparent, arguing that “Democratic societies have a strong presumption in favor of transparency and openness in
government. But there has also long been recognition that on their own, governments and their leaders do not have the
incentives to disclose, let alone disseminate, information that is contrary to their interests.”
Consistent with this idea, we suggest that elected officials will have the strongest motivation to obfuscate the true
size of their pension funding gaps during periods in which they face fiscal stress. By understating their pension funding
gap during periods of fiscal stress, states reduce their Annual Required Contributions to the pension fund, and thus can
reduce their expenditures on pension obligations.16 Virtually every state has some form of balanced budget restriction,
which requires a balancing of expenditures and revenues. Thus, in periods when revenues fall below expenditures, or in
periods when there are relatively fewer funds available to meet budget shortfalls, states have incentives to use accounting
discretion to reduce their pension obligations and thus reduce required contributions to pension trusts. Thus our first
hypothesis is:
3. Hypothesis development
We begin our analysis by examining the incentives states have to understate their pension funding gaps. Watts and
Zimmerman (1978) suggest that in the for-profit sector there are a variety of different motivations (like debt, compensation
contracts, and political forces) that influence the accounting choices made by firms. In the accounting literature, there are
significantly fewer theoretical underpinnings for the factors affecting the accounting choices made by governmental
entities. In the political science literature, Stiglitz (2002) highlights the tension underlying a government's incentives to be
transparent, arguing that “Democratic societies have a strong presumption in favor of transparency and openness in
government. But there has also long been recognition that on their own, governments and their leaders do not have the
incentives to disclose, let alone disseminate, information that is contrary to their interests.”
Consistent with this idea, we suggest that elected officials will have the strongest motivation to obfuscate the true
size of their pension funding gaps during periods in which they face fiscal stress. By understating their pension funding
gap during periods of fiscal stress, states reduce their Annual Required Contributions to the pension fund, and thus can
reduce their expenditures on pension obligations.16 Virtually every state has some form of balanced budget restriction,
which requires a balancing of expenditures and revenues. Thus, in periods when revenues fall below expenditures, or in
periods when there are relatively fewer funds available to meet budget shortfalls, states have incentives to use accounting
discretion to reduce their pension obligations and thus reduce required contributions to pension trusts. Thus our first
hypothesis is:
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