| Recent economic studies pertaining to the price of gasoline have placed blame on increasing crude oil costs and taxes for the price increases witnessed at the gasoline pump. However, very little analysis with a geographic emphasis has been put forth explaining why differences exist between different cities. Determining if geography is a significant determinant in the price of retail gasoline is the purpose of this study.;A data set, containing gasoline prices in thirty-eight Canadian cities between the dates of June 1998 and December 2005, is statistically scrutinized. The data for a relational model, developed from both the economic and geographic literature, is also placed under similar examination. The relational model, containing 20,935 cases and 45 variables, is subjected to Correlation Analysis to understand the interaction between the variables and the price of gasoline. The variables are then subjected to a Cluster Analysis; this determines the relationships between variables and finds distinct groupings of variables displaying the characteristics of larger factors involved in the determination of the price of gasoline. These clusters are then regressed against the price of gasoline; this determines the statistical importance of these variable groupings.;The findings of the thesis are then finally summarized. This review also includes discussions about some observations of the study and areas of potential future research in the field of the geography of gasoline pricing.;Keywords. Gasoline prices, Agglomeration, Socio-Economic Conditions, Correlation Analysis, Cluster Analysis, Regression Analysis.;Factors that are discussed in geographic literature that this thesis is concerned with fall under the banners of agglomeration theory and concepts of urban growth from a human/urban/economic viewpoint. These two salient categories are derived from the extensive literature and, more specifically, agglomeration theory is concerned with the location of industry and tenets of urban growth are the socio-economic conditions that are present within each market. |
