AN EMPIRICAL-INVESTIGATION OF PENSION FUNDING LEVELS IN CANADA

In the literature, three non-mutually exclusive approaches explain pen sion plan funding decisions: the traditional view (Friedman, 1983), th e corporate view (Bodie et al., 1985) and the bonding view (Ippolito, 1985). An investigation of pension funding levels is presented here re lying on an empirical model integrating these three different views. T he results, based on data covering 115 relatively large Canadian firms in 1990, offer strong support for the bonding view.