Fig. 1

Distribution of Funding Ratios. Distributions of the funding ratios of pension funds pooled across all years 2006–2017, in 2007 , and in 2017. The solid line shows the smoothed fit using a local 4th-order polynomial kernel regression to the left and to the right of 100%. Binwidth of histogram and bandwidth of triangular kernel are based on the procedure by McCrary (2008). Bin at 100% omitted for polynomial fit. Figure shows spike exactly at the regulatory minimum (100%). The corresponding McCrary test for discontinuity between left and right of 100% (omitting the 100% bin) is positive and significant. The sample includes only private and public funds without state guarantees and only includes funds with a funding ratio between 81.5 and 152.3% (0.5th–95th percentile range)