We use the 2008 crisis as an exogenous shock to the annual pension funding ratios of U.S. corporate defined benefit (DB) pension plans to examine the causal impact on the assumption of expected return on pension assets (EROA). Contrary to prior literature, we find that DB pension plans...

We use the 2008 crisis as an exogenous shock to the pension funding status of U.S. corporate defined benefit (DB) pension plans to examine the causal impact on the assumption of the expected return on pension assets (ER). Contrary to prior literature, we find that DB pension plans transitioning...