Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 158 (SFAS 158) requires companies to report the funded status of retirement plans on the balance sheet for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2006. Prior to this, the average retirement plan was underfunded, and after the adoption of SFAS 158...

This paper extends the accounting academic literature on pension funding strategy by looking at a more recent data set, directly examining contributions to defined benefit pension plans, and considering the effect of changing economic conditions over time on pension plan funding. I find that the...