This setting lets you change the way you view articles. You can choose to have articles open in a dialog window, a new tab, or directly in the same window.
Open in Dialog
Open in New Tab
Open in same window
Open in New Tab
Open in same window
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics: Vol. 4 No. 3 (July 2012)
AEJ: Applied Volume. 4, Issue 3 | 
Previous ArticleNext Article
Sign up for Email Alerts Follow us on Twitter Subscription Information
(Institutional Administrator Access)
AEJ: Applied Forthcoming Articles
Full-text Article
Download Data Set (14.84 KB) | Online Appendix (103.42 KB)
View Comments on This Article (0) | Login to post a comment
Previous ArticleNext Article
Expand
Quick Tools:
Print Article Summary Email Link to this Article Export CitationSign up for Email Alerts Follow us on Twitter Subscription Information
(Institutional Administrator Access)
Explore:
AEJ: Applied Forthcoming Articles
Raising the Barcode Scanner: Technology and Productivity in the Retail Sector
Article Citation
Basker, Emek. 2012. "Raising the Barcode Scanner: Technology and Productivity in the Retail Sector."
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics,
4(3): 1-27.
DOI: 10.1257/app.4.3.1
DOI: 10.1257/app.4.3.1
Abstract
Barcodes and barcode scanners transformed the grocery industry in the 1970s. I use store-level data from the 1972, 1977, and 1982 Census of Retail Trade, matched to data on store scanner installations, to estimate scanners' effect on labor productivity. I find that scanners increased a store's labor productivity, on average, by approximately 4.5 percent in the first few years. The effect was larger in stores carrying more packaged products, consistent with the presence of network externalities. Short-run gains were small relative to fixed costs, suggesting that the impediment to widespread adoption of the new technology was profitability, not coordination problems. (JEL J24, L24, L81, O33)
Article Full-Text Access
Full-text Article
Additional Materials
Download Data Set (14.84 KB) | Online Appendix (103.42 KB)
Authors
Basker, Emek (U MO)
JEL Classifications
J24: Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
L24: Contracting Out; Joint Ventures; Technology Licensing
L81: Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
O33: Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
L24: Contracting Out; Joint Ventures; Technology Licensing
L81: Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
O33: Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
Comments
View Comments on This Article (0) | Login to post a comment
