Economic Consequences of Public Pension Accounting Regulation Changes: Evidence from Housing Markets and Local Economies
研究了政府养老金会计法规（GASB 67和68）如何通过提高养老金资金不足的透明度，影响地方住房市场和经济发展，发现资金不足严重的地区住房增长更慢，政府倾向于增税减支。
ABSTRACT I examine whether, and through which channels, government pension accounting regulations affect local housing markets and economies. Using both a contiguous border-county approach across multiple states and a single-state study in California, I find that regions exposed to more severe state-level pension underfunding experience lower housing market growth after the introduction of Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) regulations 67 and 68, which significantly enhance the transparency of public pension underfunding. The effect is more pronounced in states heavily impacted by the new regulations and in counties more reliant on state funding. Further analyses suggest that the observed effect is driven by the responses of sponsoring governments and real estate investors to the newly disclosed pension underfunding information. Additionally, more underfunded governments tend to increase taxes, reduce spending, and experience declines in local economic activity following the implementation of these new regulations. Data Availability: Data are available in the sources stated in the manuscript. JEL Classifications: H75; H83; G12; M48; O18; R30; R31.