Homework

  • Elasticity concerns responsiveness to changes in price.

Price Elasticity of Demand

  • PED is defined as the responsiveness of quantity demanded to a change in the price of the good or service. #testanswer
    • The formula for $Ed$, (as per discovering economics) is $$Ed = \frac{%change \space in \space quantity \space demanded}{% change \space in \space price}$$
      • An $Ed < 1$ indicates a good that is inelastic, and this is known as the elasticity coefficient - to graph, a relatively steep curve
      • An $Ed > 1$ indicates a good that is elastic to changes in price - to graph, a relatively flat curve
      • An $Ed=0$ indicates a good that is perfectly inelastic - to graph, $x=n$
      • An $Ed=\infty$ indicates a good that is perfectly elastic - to graph, $y=n$
    • However, what is demonstrated above is the point method; this will give different answers depending on whether we are increasing or decreasing price
      • An alternative is the midpoint method. The formula goes as follows: $$\frac{\triangle Q}{Q_{av}}\times \frac{P_{av}}{\triangle P}$$
      • The advantge of this is that the answer does not depend on which price we choose as the starting price.

PED and TR/TE

  • PED is important in that it has a link with total revenue and total expenditure - $TR(TE)=P\times Q$
    • Graphs in PPT - PED demonstrate this correlation
    • Firms will use elasticity to price discriminate between customers - depending on whether their demand is elastic or inelastic
  • Along a linear curve, PED changes - the top half is elastic, while the bottom is inelastic. The midpoint has an $Ed=1$.
  • Again as noted in PPT - PED, there are five main determinants of PED
    • Availability of Substitutes
    • Whether the good is a necessity or a luxury
    • Definition of the market
    • The proportion of income spent
    • Time

Price Elasticity of Supply

  • PES measures the responsiveness of quantity supplied to a change in price #testanswer