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An example of investment-specific technological progress is the [[microwave oven]]. The idea of the microwave came to be by accident: in 1946 an engineer noticed that a [[candy bar]] in his pocket had melted while working on something completely unrelated to cooking (Gallawa 2005). The development of this good, from melting the candy bar to the home appliance we know today, took time and the investment of resources to make a microwave small and cheap. The first microwave oven cost between 2000 and 3000 dollars and was housed in refrigerator-sized cabinets (Gallawa 2005)! Today, almost any college student can enjoy a 3-minute microwaveable meal in the smallest dorm room. But a microwave's uses do not stop at the dorm room. Many industries have found microwave heating advantageous: it has been used to dry cork, ceramics, paper, leather, and so on (Gallawa 2005). However, for either college students or firms to reap the benefits of quick warming, they must first "invest" in a microwave oven (that "embodies" the technological advance). To realize the benefits of investment-specific technological progress you must first invest in a technology that embodies it.
==Measurement==
While measuring technological progress is not easy, economists have found indirect ways of estimating it. If "'investment-specific'" technological progress makes producing goods easier, then the price of the goods affected (relative to the price of other goods) should decrease. In particular, "investment-specific" technological advance has affected the prices of two inputs into the production process: equipment and structures. Think of equipment as machines (like computers) and structures as buildings. If there is technological progress in the production (or creation) of these goods, then one would expect the price of them to fall or the value of them to rise relative to older versions of the same good.
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