Corporate Pension Systems and Pension Funding Status in ASEAN Countries

National pension systems will vary among countries because of several factors. The role of the corporate pension in sustaining and supporting a country’s retirees is also different among nations. There are two main pension plans defined in International Accounting Standard No. 19: Employee Benefits, namely, defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans. The defined benefit plan requires a company to recognise its pension funding status on the balance sheet. In contrast, in a defined contribution plan, only the contribution amount to the plan is recognised as an expense on the firm’s income statement. The aim of this paper is to investigate in ASEAN countries the relationship between the presence of corporate pension plans and specific financial factors in companies. The result of the empirical research shows companies with higher profitability and efficiency tend to provide corporate pension plans to their employees.