Download This PaperCustomer‐Employee Substitution: Evidence from Gasoline Stations
21 Pages Posted: 2 Nov 2017
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Customer-Employee Substitution: Evidence from Gasoline Stations
US Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies Paper No. CES-WP- 15-45
Number of pages: 43
Posted: 20 Dec 2015
Last Revised: 05 Jul 2017
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Date Written: Winter 2017
Abstract
We document the adoption of self‐service pumps in U.S. gasoline stations from 1977 to 1992. Using establishment‐level data from the Census of Retail Trade over this period, we show that self‐service stations employ approximately one quarter fewer attendants per pump, all else equal. The work done by these attendants has shifted to customers, biasing upward conventional measures of productivity growth.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Basker, Emek and Foster, Lucia and Klimek, Shawn D., Customer‐Employee Substitution: Evidence from Gasoline Stations (Winter 2017). Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Vol. 26, Issue 4, pp. 876-896, 2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3063678 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jems.12215
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