U.S. corporate sponsors of defined benefit (DB) pension plans in recent years have been de-risking by paying premiums to transfer their pension plan assets and liabilities to the balance sheets of third-party insurers. The passage of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) in 2012 provided the pension funding relief necessary to make de-risking a mainstream corporate activity. This study provides the first empirical analysis of plan and firm factors that cause a firm to de-risk its DB pension plans. We find a positive association between de-risking and aggregate corporate risk-taking. The results also show that de-risking, on average, has a stronger effect on corporate financing policy than investment policy, leading to an increase in credit risk reflected in a firm's credit rating and cost of debt. Also, we present suggestive evidence that the reallocation of pension risk increases firm idiosyncratic risk and excess returns.

中文翻译：

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固定收益养老金去风险和企业风险承担

近年来，固定收益 (DB) 养老金计划的美国企业发起人一直在通过支付保费将其养老金计划资产和负债转移到第三方保险公司的资产负债表来降低风险。2012 年通过的《21 世纪进步法案》（MAP-21）提供了必要的养老金资金减免，使去风险成为主流企业活动。本研究首次对导致公司降低其 DB 养老金计划风险的计划和公司因素进行了实证分析。我们发现去风险和总体企业风险承担之间存在正相关关系。结果还表明，平均而言，去风险化对公司融资政策的影响比投资政策更强，导致公司信用评级和债务成本中反映的信用风险增加。还，