Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Javad Shekarkhah ¹
• Mohammad javad Salimi ²
• Seyed Soroush Ghazinoori ³
• Ali Hedayati Bilondi ⁴

¹ Associated professor of Accounting , Allame Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.

² Assistant Professor of Accounting , Allameh Tabataba&a'i University, Tehran ,Iran

³ Associated Professor ,management of Technology and Entrepreneurship Department ,Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

⁴ PhD student,Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Pension funds in Iran use defined benefit pension plan and their sustainability is important. However, the evaluation of their sustainability has always been criticized. Minimum reporting and simple accountability indicators do not meet the informational needs of stakeholders. Thus, the main issue is to identify the indicators and standards for comprehensive evaluation of financial sustainability. To address this issue, the theoretical foundations of sustainability evaluation of pension funds and the indicators applied by other countries and international organizations were examined. The indicators were presented to experts for receiving their opinions and in order to reach a consensus on key indicators a fuzzy Delphi method was applied. For ranking and developing a combined indicator, the final indicator was obtained using experts' opinions and the SWARA method. 27 indicators in four dimensions were extracted from the theoretical foundations: equity, adequacy, financial, and innovation. According to the results of the fuzzy Delphi method, 15 key indicators were confirmed finally. Among the key indicators, the support ratio obtained the first rank, while the replacement rate and penetration coefficient obtained the second and third ranks, respectively. The results of the SWARA method confirmed the combined indicator consisting of equity dimension (1 sub-indicator), adequacy dimension (3 sub-indicators), and financial dimension (11 sub-indicators). The weight of equity, adequacy and financial in the combined indicator is equal to 6%, 21%, and 73%, respectively. The support ratio, present value of Assets to Liabilities Ratio, and actuary analysis obtained ranks 1 to 3. the financial dimension has the highest importance,

Keywords

• pension funds
• financial sustainability
• sustainability reporting
• combined indicators of sustainability assessment

Main Subjects

• Financial Accounting