1.2 How Markets Work Flashcards
neo-classical theory
assumes that economic agents are rational
underlying assumptions of rational economic decision making
- consumers aim to maximise utility (satisfaction gained from consuming a product)
- firms aim to maximise profits (in order to keep shareholders and owners happy)
- governments aim to maximise social welfare (they are voted in by and serve the public so should aim to maximise their satisfaction)
limitations to neo-classical theory and rational decision making
economic agents may not always act rationally due to;
- bounded rationality (rationality is limited to us due to our thinking capacity & the info available to us at the time)
- heuristics (people use rules of thumb to make quick, satisfactory decisions)
- habitual behaviour (default bias in choice)
- social norms (what’s accepted in society)
- herd behaviour (basing decisions on what people around us are doing)
- anchors (prices we’ve established as low / high in our minds as a guide for a price to pay)
- choice architecture (layout / range of choices can affect our decisions)
demand
the amount of a good / service that a consumer is willing and able to purchase at a given price in a given period of time
effective demand
when a consumer is both willing and able to purchase a good / service
movements along the demand curve
diagram 1
- caused by a change in the price of the good
- relies on income and substitution effects
the income effect
a rise in prices and a fall in real income reduces ‘purchasing power’ of people’s money, thus reducing the quantity demanded
the substitution effect
a rise in prices with the same income means people are likely to find cheaper alternatives / substitutes rather than paying for more expensive goods
shifts of the demand curve
diagram 2
- caused by a change in any of the factors which affect demand (conditions of demand)
conditions of demand
- income
- population
- interest rates
- quality
- advertising
- substitutes
- complements
- seasons / weather
- expectations of future price increases
- changes in income distribution
- changes in taste / fashion
- govt. legislation
conditions of demand - income
an increase in disposable income enables consumers to be able to afford more goods, so it usually leads to an increase in demand
conditions of demand - population
a rising population means more people in the country, so there will be more people demanding goods, therefore leading to an increase in demand
conditions of demand - interest rates
if interest rates are low, it’s cheaper to borrow money, so consumers can be encouraged to buy expensive items on credit, e.g. cars, holidays, etc. thus increasing demand
conditions of demand - quality
an increase in the quality of goods encourages people to buy them, so demand increases
conditions of demand - advertising
a successful advertising campaign can gain more consumers and increase demand
conditions of demand - substitutes
an increase in price of an item can increase demand for a substitute, e.g. a rise in prices of apple phones may lead to a rise in demand for samsung phones
conditions of demand - complements
a decrease in price of complements (goods with extra add-ons) can increase demand, e.g. a decrease in price of the PS4 can increase demand for PS4 compatible games
conditions of demand - seasons / weather
some goods may see fluctuations in output and sales related to the season of the year, e.g. fans have an increased demand during summer
conditions of demand - future expectations
if people expect a shortage of something, or that the price may rise in the future, demand for the good will increase, and vice versa if they expect the price will fall in the future
conditions of demand - changes in income distribution
a more equal distribution of income can increase total demand in an economy, as the poor tend to spend most of their income on necessities
conditions of demand - changes in taste / fashion
if something becomes more fashionable, we expect demand to increase
conditions of demand - govt. legislation
if a govt. make something a legal requirement, demand may increase, e.g. demand for children’s car seats rose after the govt. made it a legal requirement
utility
a measure of the satisfaction we get from purchasing and consuming a good / service
marginal utility
the additional utility (satisfaction) gained from consuming an extra product
total utility
the total satisfaction from a given level of consumption, so this continues to increase even while marginal utility is decreasing
law of diminishing marginal utility
states that the marginal utility of extra units declines as more is consumed (i.e. the utility gained from the next unit is lower than the utility gained from the previous unit)
effect of diminishing marginal utility on demand curve
- explains why the demand curve slopes downwards
- if more of a good is consumed, there is less satisfaction derived from the good
- this means consumers are less willing to pay high prices at high quantities, as they’re gaining less satisfaction
- lowering the price makes it more attractive for consumers to keep consuming extra units
elasticity of demand
an attempt to measure the responsiveness of quantity demanded to changes in other variables
price elasticity of demand (PED)
- the responsiveness of demand to a change in the price of a good
- % change in quantity demanded / % change in price
percentage change calculation
(new value - old value) / old value x100
numerical values of PED
- diagram 3
- PED=0; perfectly inelastic; price change has no effect on output so demand is completely unresponsive to price
- PED<1; relatively inelastic; QD changes by a smaller % than price so demand is relatively unresponsive to price
- PED=1; unitary elastic; QD changes by the exact same % as price, and this would be shown as a reciprocal curve
- PED>1; relatively elastic; QD changes by a larger % than price so demand is relatively responsive to price, and curve will be more sloping
- PED=infinity; perfectly elastic; a price change means quantity falls to 0 and demand is very responsive to price, and this would be shown by a horizontal line
factors influencing PED
- availability of substitutes; good availability of substitutes results in a higher PED value (elastic demand) as people will switch to other products when prices rise, but if there are no alternatives, people will have to buy that good and demand will be inelastic
- time; in the short term, PED is low (inelastic demand) as consumers are less responsive to price increases, but in the long term, PED is higher (elastic) as consumers can find substitutes
- addictiveness; demand is inelastic for addictive goods, because no matter how high prices are, people will still buy the good to fulfil their addiction
- price of the product as a proportion of income; the lower the proportion of income the price represents, the lower the PED value, as a price increase will only have a relatively small impact on them, so demand is inelastic
- necessity; if an item is a necessity, PED will be low (inelastic) because you’ll still buy it even if the price rises
significance of PED
- knowledge of PED is important to firms seeking to maximise their revenue;
- PED inelastic; firms should raise prices
- PED elastic; firms should lower prices
- indirect taxation; diagram 4
- inelastic demand; large rise in price but low decrease in demand (higher incidence on consumer)
- elastic demand; small rise in price but large decrease in demand (higher incidence on producer)
- subsidies; diagram 5
- inelastic demand; large fall in price but small increase in demand (high consumer gain)
- elastic demand; small fall in price but large increase in demand (high producer gain)
PED and total revenue
- diagram 5.5
- elastic demand; firms should decrease price to maximise revenue
- inelastic demand; firms should increase price to maximise revenue
- unitary elastic demand; a change in price doesn’t affect total revenue
- calculations;
- total revenue = price x quantity
- PED = %changeQD / %changeP
- %change = (new-old) / old x 100
income elasticity of demand (YED)
- responsiveness of demand to a change in income
- % change in quantity demanded / % change in income