Raising the Barcode Scanner: Technology and Productivity in the Retail Sector

Emek Basker

No 1101, Working Papers from Department of Economics, University of Missouri

Abstract: Barcode scanners were introduced in the 1970s as a way to reduce labor costs in stores, particularly at checkout. This paper is the first to estimate their effect on productivity. 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 early scanners increased a store's labor productivity, on average, by approximately 4.5 percent in the first few years, with a larger effect in stores carrying more packaged products likely to bear barcodes. Setup costs significantly offset the short-run productivity effect.

Keywords: Barcode scanners; Retail; Supermarkets; Technology; Productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D22 L81 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pgs.
Date: 2011-02-06, Revised 2011-05-28
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-eff
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2012

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Related works:
Chapter: Raising the Barcode Scanner: Technology and Productivity in the Retail Sector (2012)
Journal Article: Raising the Barcode Scanner: Technology and Productivity in the Retail Sector (2012)
Working Paper: Raising the Barcode Scanner: Technology and Productivity in the Retail Sector (2012)
Working Paper: Raising the Barcode Scanner: Technology and Productivity in the Retail Sector (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:umc:wpaper:1101

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