Customer‐employee substitution: Evidence from gasoline stations

Basker, Emek; Foster, Lucia; Klimek, Shawn D.

doi:10.1111/jems.12215

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(55 reference statements)

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“…Other channels of adjustment that have been explored in the minimum wage literature include changes in hourswhere the empirical evidence is mixed (see Neumark and Washer, 2008, p. 78), job amenities (see Simon and Kaestner, 2004), prices (see Aaronson, 2001;Aaronson, French, and MacDonald, 2008;Lemos, 2008;and MaCurdy, 2015), and compression of wage differentials (see DiNardo, Fortin, and Lemieux, 1996;and Autor, Manning, and Smith, 2016). 4 In a recent paper, Basker et al (2017) explore a different kind of substitution of technology for labor (at least, the firm"s labor) that can occur in response to a higher minimum wagenamely, substitution of a customer"s labor for a worker"s labor (in, e.g., a self-service gas station, or using a bank ATM). They suggest that this kind substitution may occur when low-skilled labor becomes expensive and technology enables labor replacement in tasks that are not easy to automate.…”

Section: A C C E P T E D Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

People versus machines: The impact of minimum wages on automatable jobs

Lordan

Neumark²

2018

Labour Economics

158

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We are grateful to John Addison and Jonathan Meer, as well as anonymous referees, for helpful suggestions. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. At least one co-author has disclosed a financial relationship of potential relevance for this research. Further information is available online at http://www.nber.org/papers/w23667.ack NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

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Section: A C C E P T E D Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

People versus machines: The impact of minimum wages on automatable jobs

Lordan

Neumark²

2018

Labour Economics

158

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“…Basker, Foster, and Klimek (2017) argue that such shifting of tasks to consumers results in an overstatement of an industry's productivity growth.…”

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confidence: 99%

Understanding the Decline of U.S. Manufacturing Employment

Houseman¹

2018

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U.S. manufacturing experienced a precipitous and historically unprecedented decline in employment in the 2000s. Many economists and other analysts-pointing to decades of statistics showing that manufacturing real (inflation-adjusted) output growth has largely kept pace with private sector real output growth, that productivity growth has been much higher, and that the sector's share of aggregate employment has been declining-argue that manufacturing's job losses are largely the result of productivity growth (assumed to reflect automation) and are part of a long-term trend. Since the 1980s, however, the apparently robust growth in manufacturing real output and productivity have been driven by a relatively small industry-computer and electronic products, whose extraordinary performance reflects the way statistical agencies account for rapid product improvements in the industry. Without the computer industry, there is no prima facie evidence that productivity caused manufacturing's relative and absolute employment decline. This paper discusses interpreting labor productivity statistics, which capture many factors besides automation, and cautions against using descriptive evidence to draw causal inferences. It also reviews the research literature to date, which finds that trade significantly contributed to the collapse of manufacturing employment in the 2000s, but finds little evidence of a causal link to automation.

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“…In 1972, 92% of gasoline stations in the United States were full-service, meaning that customers did not pump their gasoline Basker et al (2017). study the transition from full-service to self-service stations in the United States.…”

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confidence: 99%