CHAPTER FOUR –DEMAND, SUPPLY AND EQUILIBRIUM Flashcards
What is a perfectly competitive market?
– Every buyer pays, and every seller charges the same market price
(price takers).
– No buyer or seller is big enough to influence that market price (no
market power).
– All sellers sell an identical good or service (homogenous goods).
– Free entry and exit (see chapter 6)
What is a demand curve?
A curve that plots the quantity demanded at
different prices, it plots the demand schedule. Quantity
demanded is always on the horizontal axis and price on the
vertical axis.
The demand curve respects two properties: the price and
demand are negatively related, this means that they move in
opposite directions.
Whats the law of demand?
The Law of Demand: the quantity rises
when the price falls (holding all else equal).
What is meant by willingness to pay?
Willingness to pay is the highest price that a buyer is willing to pay for an extra unit of a good. However,
as you consume more of a good, your willingness to pay for an additional unit declines, this is referred to
as the diminishing marginal benefit.
What is an aggregated demand curve?
An aggregated demand curve is the sum of
individual demand curves. Thus, aggregation is
the process of adding up individual behaviors.
Whats the market demand curve?
The market demand curve is the sum of the individual demand curves of all the potential buyers. It plots
the relationship between the total quantity demanded and the market price, holding all else equal.
What indicates left and right shifts of the demand curve?
Left and right shifts of the demand curve occurs
when the quantity demanded changes at a given
price.
What indicates movement along the demand curve?
Movement along the demand curve occurs when
the market prices changes but the demand curve
doesn’t; a change in the price of the good itself.
The demand curve shifts when these 5 factors change:
- Tastes and preferences
- Income and wealth
- Availability and prices of related goods.
- Number and scale of buyers.
- Buyers’ beliefs about the future.
Whats the quantity supplied?
The quantity supplied is the amount of a good or service that
sellers are willing to sell at a given price.
Whats the supply schedule?
A supply schedule is a
table that reports the quantity supplied at different prices, holding
all else equal.
Whats the supply curve?
The supply curve plots the quantity supplied at
different prices.
Whats the willingness to accept?
Willingness to accept is the lowest price that a seller
is willing to get paid to sell an extra unit of a good.
Willingness to accept is the same as the marginal
cost of production.
Whats the market supply curve?
The market supply curve is the sum of the individual
supply curves of all the potential sellers. It plots the
relationship between the total quantity supplied and
the market price, holding all else equal.
There are two types of movement for shifting the supply curve:
a. Left and right shifts of the supply curve only occurs
when the quantity supplied changes at a given price.
b. Movement along the supply curve occurs if a good’s
own price changes and its supply curve hasnt shifted
The supply curve shifts when these variables change:
- Prices of inputs used to produce the good.
- Technology used to produce the good.
- Number and scale of sellers.
- Sellers’ beliefs about the future.
Whats the competitive equilibrium?
The competitive equilibrium is the crossing point of the supply
curve and the demand curve. The competitive equilibrium price
equates quantity supplied and quantity demanded. The
competitive equilibrium quantity is the quantity that
corresponds to the competitive equilibrium price.