52 s&p global 2018 annual report cash consideration that would be received for instances when the service components are sold separately . if the fair value to the customer for each service is not objectively determinable , we make our best estimate of the services 2019 stand-alone selling price and record revenue as it is earned over the service period . receivables we record a receivable when a customer is billed or when revenue is recognized prior to billing a customer . for multi- year agreements , we generally invoice customers annually at the beginning of each annual period . the opening balance of accounts receivable , net of allowance for doubtful accounts , was $ 1319 million as of january 1 , 2018 . contract assets contract assets include unbilled amounts from when the company transfers service to a customer before a customer pays consideration or before payment is due . as of december 31 , 2018 and 2017 , contract assets were $ 26 million and $ 17 million , respectively , and are included in accounts receivable in our consolidated balance sheets . unearned revenue we record unearned revenue when cash payments are received or due in advance of our performance . the increase in the unearned revenue balance for the year ended december 31 , 2018 is primarily driven by cash payments received or due in advance of satisfying our performance obligations , offset by $ 1.5 billion of revenues recognized that were included in the unearned revenue balance at the beginning of the period . remaining performance obligations remaining performance obligations represent the transaction price of contracts for work that has not yet been performed . as of december 31 , 2018 , the aggregate amount of the transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations was $ 1.4 billion . we expect to recognize revenue on approximately half and three-quarters of the remaining performance obligations over the next 12 and 24 months , respectively , with the remainder recognized thereafter . we do not disclose the value of unfulfilled performance obligations for ( i ) contracts with an original expected length of one year or less and ( ii ) contracts where revenue is a usage-based royalty promised in exchange for a license of intellectual property . costs to obtain a contract we recognize an asset for the incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer if we expect the benefit of those costs to be longer than one year . we have determined that certain sales commission programs meet the requirements to be capitalized . total capitalized costs to obtain a contract were $ 101 million as of december 31 , 2018 , and are included in prepaid and other current assets and other non-current assets on our consolidated balance sheets . the asset will be amortized over a period consistent with the transfer to the customer of the goods or services to which the asset relates , calculated based on the customer term and the average life of the products and services underlying the contracts . the expense is recorded within selling and general expenses . we expense sales commissions when incurred if the amortization period would have been one year or less . these costs are recorded within selling and general expenses . presentation of net periodic pension cost and net periodic postretirement benefit cost during the first quarter of 2018 , we adopted new accounting guidance requiring that net periodic benefit cost for our retirement and postretirement plans other than the service cost component be included outside of operating profit ; these costs are included in other income , net in our consolidated statements of income . the components of other income , net for the year ended december 31 are as follows : assets and liabilities held for sale and discontinued operations assets and liabilities held for sale we classify a disposal group to be sold as held for sale in the period in which all of the following criteria are met : management , having the authority to approve the action , commits to a plan to sell the disposal group ; the disposal group is available for immediate sale in its present condition subject only to terms that are usual and customary for sales of such disposal group ; an active program to locate a buyer and other actions required to complete the plan to sell the disposal group have been initiated ; the sale of the disposal group is probable , and transfer of the disposal group is expected to qualify for recognition as a completed sale within one year , except if events or circumstances beyond our control extend the period of time required to sell the disposal group beyond one year ; the disposal group is being actively marketed for sale at a price that is reasonable in relation to its current fair value ; and actions required to complete the plan indicate that it is unlikely that significant changes to the plan will be made or that the plan will be withdrawn . a disposal group that is classified as held for sale is initially measured at the lower of its carrying value or fair value less any costs to sell . any loss resulting from this measurement is recognized in the period in which the held for sale criteria are met . conversely , gains are not recognized on the sale of a disposal group until the date of sale . ( in millions ) 2018 2017 2016 other components of net periodic benefit cost $ ( 30 ) $ ( 27 ) $ ( 28 ) .
what was the decline in the other net income from 2016 to 2018
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