Why elasticity is important in economics




















Would they abandon Netflix? Would the ease of access to other venues make a difference in how consumers responded to the Netflix price change? In this module, the answers to these questions—about the change in quantity with respect to a change in price—will be explored through a concept economists call elasticity. Elasticity measures the behavioral response of economic agents in a given situation.

A bumper crop, instead of bringing prosperity to farmers, brings poverty. This is called the paradox of poverty amidst plenty. It happens due to inelastic demand for most of the agricultural products. When supply of crops increases as a result of rich harvest, their prices drastically fall due to inelastic demand.

As a result, their total income goes down. Elasticity of Demand. You must be logged in to post a comment. Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits.

Do not sell my personal information. Cookie Settings Accept. Manage consent. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. An item is viewed as elastic if the amount of interest in the item changes radically when its cost increments or diminishes. On the other hand, an item is viewed as inelastic if the amount of interest of the item changes almost no when its cost vacillates.

Taking the examples of both kinds of goods. An example of a highly inelastic good is insulin. On the other hand are highly elastic products. There can be various examples of goods that fall in this category. For example, the demand for refrigerators go high during festive seasons as the prices are slashed and people wait for it.

As mentioned above in the blog, there are mainly two types of elasticity- Elasticity of Demand and Elasticity of Supply. Elasticity of demand is an economic measure of the sensitivity of demand relative to a change in another variable. The demand for a good or service depends on multiple factors such as price, income, and preference.

Whenever there is a change in any of these variables it causes a change in the quantity demanded of the good or service. Price Elasticity of Demand or PED measures the responsiveness of quantity demanded to a change in price. There are two ways to measure PED- arc elasticity that measures over a price range, and point elasticity that measures at one point.

Cross Elasticity of Demand XED is an economic concept that measures the responsiveness in the quantity demanded of one good when the price of other goods changes. Also called cross-price elasticity of demand, this measurement is calculated by taking the percentage change in the quantity demanded of one good and dividing it by the percentage change in the price of the other good. Income Elasticity of Demand measures the responsiveness in the quantity demanded for a good or service when the real income of the consumers is changed, keeping all the other variables constant.

The formula for calculating income elasticity of demand is the percent change in quantity demanded divided by the percent change in income. This concept helps us to find whether a good is a necessity or luxury.

Price Elasticity of supply PES measures the responsiveness to the supply of a good or service after a change in its market price.

Some basic economic theories explain that when there is a fall in the price of a good its supply is also decreased and when the prices are on a rise the supply is increased. So, these were the four different types of elasticity that measure responsiveness of two main economic variables, demand and supply, when other market variables are changed. In general, we can say that the more good substitutes are there, the more elastic demand will be. This can be understood by an example. The consumers are likely to switch to another company or they may even replace their cup of coffee with a cup of strong tea.

This means that the cup of coffee is an elastic good as a small increase in the price is resulting in a large decrease in the demand. Another example could be of caffeine. Let us say that the price of caffeine goes up. But this time the consumers will not switch to another beverage or drink as there are very few good substitutes for caffeine. So, most people may not willingly give up their cup of caffeine.

With elastic demand, demand changes more than the other variable most often price , whereas with inelastic demand, demand does not change even when another economic variable changes. Products and services for which consumers have many options most often have elastic demand, while products and services for which consumers have few alternatives are most often inelastic.

Economists use price elasticity of demand to measure demand sensitivity as a result of price changes for a given product. This measurement can be useful in forecasting consumer behavior and economic events, such as a recession. Harvard Business Review. Behavioral Economics. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content.

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Supply and Demand Basics. Microeconomics Concepts. Table of Contents Expand. Elasticity vs. Inelasticity of Demand. Elasticity of Demand. Special Considerations.

Elasticity FAQs. The Bottom Line. Inelasticity of Demand: An Overview Inelasticity and elasticity of demand refer to the degree to which demand responds to a change in another economic factor, such as price, income level, or substitute availability.

Key Takeaways Elasticity of demand refers to the degree in the change in demand when there is a change in another economic factor, such as price or income. If demand for a good or service remains unchanged even when the price changes, demand is said to be inelastic. Examples of elastic goods include luxury items and certain food and beverages.



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