Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T04:25:35.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Valuation of PBGC Insurance Premiums Using an Option Pricing Model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

Abstract

This study applies an option pricing model to empirically derive pension put values for a sample of 176 individual pension plan sponsors insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). This study finds that the pension put values for a group of 22 underfunded sponsors were significantly greater than the insurance premiums paid to the PBGC. On the other hand, for a group of 154 overfunded sponsors, the put values were also greater than the pension premiums paid to the PBGC, although the difference was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that underfunded plan sponsors are significantly undercharged by the PBGC, while overfunded plan sponsors are approximately fairly charged.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © School of Business Administration, University of Washington 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bicksler, J., and Chen, A.. “The Integration of Insurance and Taxes in Corporate Pension Strategy.” Journal of Finance, 40 (07 1985), 943955.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, F.The Tax Consequences of Long-Run Pension Policy.” Financial Analysts Journal, 36 (0708. 1980), 2128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, F., and Scholes, M.. “The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities.” Journal of Political Economy, 81 (05/06 1973), 637659.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedman, B. M. “Pension Funding, Pension Asset Allocation, and Corporate Finance: Evidence from Individual Company Data.” In Financial Aspects of the United States Pension System, Bodie, Z. and Shovens, J., eds. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press (1983), 107152.Google Scholar
Margrabe, W.The Value of An Option to Exchange One Asset for Another.” Journal of Finance, 33 (03 1978), 177186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merton, R.An Analytic Derivation of the Cost of Deposit Insurance and Loan Guarantees.” Journal of Banking and Finance, 1 (06 1977), 311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharpe, W.Corporate Pension Funding Policy.” Journal of Financial Economics, 3 (06 1976), 183193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tepper, I.Taxation and Corporate Pension Policy.” Journal of Finance, 36 (03 1981), 113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Derhei, J. L.An Empirical Analysis of Risk-Related Insurance Premiums of the PBGC.” Journal of Risk and Insurance, 57 (06 1990), 240259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar