This paper provides evidence on the use of discount rates for calculating defined benefit liabilities (DBL), and their impact on value relevance and audit fees for Australian listed companies between 2011 and 2016. We document that the average discount rate is 3.96% but the yearly range across companies is 4.03% (2.76% excluding multinationals with multiple plans), despite the fact that AASB 119 provides guidance to use the yield of high quality corporate bonds or, if there is not a deep market, government bonds. We then find that the DBL or unfunded component (DBL less the fair value of the plan’s assets) is value relevant, but is less so when a higher discount rate is used. Furthermore, we document that audit fees are higher when the DBL is larger, or the discount rate is higher, consistent with greater audit effort and risk. Overall, this paper contributes to the accounting literature by documenting both the discretion available in discount rate selection and its consequences.

本文提供了有关使用折现率来计算设定权益负债（DBL）的证据，以及它们对2011年至2016年间澳大利亚上市公司的价值相关性和审计费用的影响。我们记录了平均折现率为3.96％，但每年尽管AASB 119提供了使用高质量公司债券或如果没有深度市场的情况下使用政府债券收益率的指南，但整个公司的收益率范围是4.03％（不包括具有多个计划的跨国公司，为2.76％）。然后，我们发现DBL或无资金构成的部分（DBL减去计划资产的公允价值）与价值相关，但是当使用较高的折现率时，则与价值无关。此外，我们证明，DBL越大，或折现率越高，审计费用就越高，这与更大的审计工作量和更大的风险相一致。总体，