Anne Marie Garvey

This article presents a transparent and replicable framework to assess the net worth of public pension systems within the broader context of fiscal sustainability and public sector balance sheets. Using Spain as a case study, it transforms Eurostat’s Table 29 data into an actuarial balance sheet and income statement, applying the Swedish open group (SOG) approach. The analysis shows that Spain’s pension system faces a significant funding shortfall, with assets covering only 72% of its liabilities. The proposed method enhances fiscal transparency and provides policymakers with a practical tool to evaluate and improve long-term pension sustainability across different institutional contexts.

Este trabajo ha sido finalista del Premio Estudios Financieros 2024 en la modalidad de Contabilidad y Sostenibilidad. Este trabajo se centra en examinar el cumplimiento de los planes de igualdad de las empresas del Ibex 35 a partir de los datos publicados en los estados de información no financiera (EINF). Asimismo, analizamos la presencia y participación de las mujeres en el consejo y la alta dirección. Además, mostramos un análisis detallado de la brecha salarial, y su evolución, en cada empresa y sector de actividad. El periodo de investigación comprende desde la presentación de los primeros EINF en el año 2018 hasta los informes más recientes disponibles, que se corresponden con el año 2023. En el trabajo realizamos un análisis manual empresa a empresa debido a que la presentación de la información no es uniforme.

This paper examines the implicit healthy life expectancy used for actuarial calculations in some selected biometric data sets from the US, Australia and China. We are interested in checking the demographic/epidemiological coherence of these data sets because this health indicator is rarely presented when authors build their biometric data sets, nor when they are used to calculate long-term care insurance (LTCI) and life care annuity (LCAs) premiums, nor when they are employed in research articles to estimate the future demand for LTC services. We follow a methodology based on multistate life table methods that enables us to obtain a life expectancy matrix for individuals on the basis of their initial health state. We also present some additional indicators of longevity, mortality and morbidity, these being the median age at death, the interquartile range, the weighted modal age at death, the mortality ratio and the implicit LTC prevalence rates broken down by health state. We find several weaknesses that highlight the difficulty involved in building the biometric data sets needed to make an actuarially fair valuation of the premiums for LTCI and LCAs. We also verify the existence of the so-called “male–female health-survival paradox”. From the perspective of a potential purchaser of this type of insurance products, disclosing and explaining the summary measures of health and longevity would make it easier for them to understand the need to protect themselves against the cost of possible LTC services and also make the computation of the premiums more transparent.

NPOs (Non-Profit Organisations) are entities created to respond to the social needs of the economy, many of which fall into financial difficulties and are forced to close. Given the importance that these entities have both socially and economically, the study of their financial vulnerability is an area of special interest. It is important to highlight the factors that characterize this type of entity in a situation of vulnerability and also to anticipate future undesirable situations which could result in closure without timely supervision. In this way, the entity could redirect its management and make the necessary changes in its structure to ensure its continuity. Our study analyses the academic literature, from a theoretical perspective, in relation to this vulnerability allowing us to construct a pentagram of five dimensions, some interrelated, which we propose to be taken into consideration in the study of an entity’s vulnerability. These five dimensions are performance, operational dimension, leverage, liquidity and most importantly reputation. This research offers a proposal to evaluate financial vulnerability in NPOs in a more comprehensive way and facilitate its management.

Este trabajo ha obtenido un accésit del Premio «Estudios Financieros» 2022 en la modalidad de Contabilidad y Administración de Empresas. Este trabajo presenta un análisis en profundidad de la norma de arrendamientos (NIIF 16). En primer lugar, abordamos las razones que han llevado al IASB a publicar la NIIF 16. En segundo lugar, realizamos una reflexión crítica de los aspectos más controvertidos de esta norma contable: la identificación del arrendamiento, los pagos por arrendamiento, el plazo del arrendamiento, el tipo de descuento y su impacto en los estados financieros. El desarrollo de estos puntos es fundamental para comprender la complejidad de esta normativa, así como las dificultades de su aplicación para las empresas y los retos a los que se enfrentan las firmas de auditoría. Este último punto puede ser de gran utilidad, ya que, en la reciente reforma del Plan General de Contabilidad, se ha optado por no adaptar la normativa contable de arrendamientos a la NIIF 16. Se esbozarán, por tanto, algunas medidas de simplificación que podrían hacer que esta norma sea de más fácil aplicación por todos los entes afectados. Además, se exponen los cambios en la normativa motivados por la COVID-19.

The objective of the article is twofold. Firstly, it evaluates the importance and significance of true and fair view (TFV)/fair presentation (FP) in European jurisdictions using IFRS standards. Secondly, it examines the potential role of TFV/FP for sustainability accounting and for aligning with the moral code of Islamic accounting. We assess whether we are at an important juncture in time where a common understanding of TFV/FP and the TFO could pave the way for increased understanding and harmonisation across all three frameworks. Conventional accounting is examined in the context of TFV/FP. A survey shows significant acceptance of TFV in European jurisdictions using IFRS, but gaps exist, and reclarification of the concepts could be timely. Experts’ opinions on TFV in ‘conventional accounting’ can illuminate sustainability accounting, which could benefit from the application of these concepts. The introduction of sustainability accounting in IFRS is an opportunity to develop a unified understanding of the TFV/FP concepts across all three frameworks and conclude in stronger and connected base frameworks. This is the first time that sustainability accounting development is considered as an opportunity to strengthen and unify the frameworks of conventional, Islamic and sustainability accounting through the common acceptance of principles-based concepts TFV/FP.

IMPACT For policy-makers, statisticians, public accountants, social security actuaries, public finance economists and other stakeholders, the regulation introduced by the EU regarding the disclosure of an accrued-to-date liability (ADL) table (Table 29) is a valuable first step in reporting pension liabilities. However, the information disclosed is incomplete and does not provide an indicator of solvency or sustainability. In addition, pensioners and those making contributions to pensions have no information regarding the security of their future benefits. In this timely article, the authors present a methodology to easily transform Table 29 into an actuarial balance sheet (ABS) and compile its associated income statement (IS). The ABS can be used to assess the solvency of pension schemes, whereas Table 29 cannot.