Accounting for Defined Benefit Plans

Defined benefit pension plans can entail one of the biggest liabilities that an exchange-listed company has on its balance-sheet. There exist comprehensive requirements for the reporting of such liabilities. This paper examines the impact that defined benefit pension plans had on the financial results of exchange-listed companies in 2007. This impact has been compared and analysed at the aggregated country level, as well as in more detail for some specific companies that sponsor large defined benefit pension plans.