The Impacts of Cost-Reducing Technology in the Gold and Oil Industries

Abstract

This thesis explores the question of what drives the development of cost-reducing technology. It will also explore this question in the gold and oil industries. It will integrate Paul Romer’s idea that investment in technology is an endogenous factor in the econometric testing. This matters because while a time lag may exist between investment in a commodity and one’s return on such investment, the role of changes in price and elasticity aid in driving such investment.