Replication data for: Raising the Barcode Scanner: Technology and Productivity in the Retail Sector
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Emek Basker
Version: View help for Version V1
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Project Citation:
Basker, Emek. Replication data for: Raising the Barcode Scanner: Technology and Productivity in the Retail Sector. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2012. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/E113826V1
Project Description
Summary:
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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)
Scope of Project
Subject Terms:
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Barcode scanners;
supermarkets
JEL Classification:
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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
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
Geographic Coverage:
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United States
Time Period(s):
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1972 – 1984
Universe:
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Retail food stores
Data Type(s):
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administrative records data
Methodology
Data Source:
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Food Marketing Institute (FMI) monthly scanner installation list, Longitudinal Business Database (LBD), Business Register (BR), Census of Retail Trade (CRT), Current Population Survey (CPS)
Unit(s) of Observation:
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store,
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