UWSP Economics attends MBAA International in Chicago

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Aaron Konicheck with Prof. Scott Wallace

UW-Stevens Point was well represented at the 2012 Academy of Business Economics (ABE) 48th Annual Meeting, in conjunction with MBAA International, on Friday, March 30 at the Drake Hotel in Chicago.

Aaron Konichek, an economics major, presented his paper “The Effects of Attraction on the Rational Consumer” in the Undergraduate Research Symposium on Empirical Economics.

Professor Kevin Neuman won the 2012 MBAA International McGraw-Hill/Irwin Distinguished Paper Award for the Academy of Business Economics for his paper “Bad Job, Happy Retirement? Job Characteristics and Retirement Satisfaction for Union and Non-Union Workers.”

The study examines the effect of prior job characteristics on retirement satisfaction for union and non-union retirees. The author finds a differential effect across union status. Union members retiring from high skill blue-collar jobs, and jobs that required skill working with others, did not require keeping pace with others, and gave freedom to decide how work was done are more likely to be very satisfied with retirement. Non-union members who retired from high skill blue-collar jobs, and jobs that required stooping, were stressful, or did not require using computers are less likely to be very satisfied with retirement. The results suggest that unions may protect employees from being pushed into a less satisfying retirement, but also may hinder the acquisition of skills on the job that make retirement more satisfying.

Since its first meeting in 1965, the MBAA International has acted as a coordinating body for autonomous groups in a variety of business-related academic areas. Eleven formal tracks with over 800 active members make up the MBAA International. These organizations represent a variety of disciplines, including accounting, economics, finance, health administration,  information systems, business society and government, international business, legal studies, management, marketing, operations management and entrepreneurship and case studies.