Lesson 9 - Price Elasticity Of Demand Flashcards
What is elastic demand?
Demand is sensitive to change and changes dramatically
What is inelastic demand?
Demand that is insensitive to price, and does not change drastically
What is the price elasticity of demand?
The responsiveness of demand to a change in price
What is unit price elasticity of demand?
A change in price that results in an exact proportionate change in demand
What is the equation for PED?
Change in quantity demanded / change in price
Why is PED always negative?
Price and demand have an inverse relationship
PED < 1 =
Inelastic demand
PED > 1 =
Elastic demand
PED = 1:
Unitary response
Describe the relationship between PED and revenue
- If a firm has inelastic demand, they can still raise prices without losing customers
- if a firm has elastic demand, they have to be careful when raising prices
Equation for profit:
Profit = total revenue (TR) - total costs (TC)
Equation for total revenue:
TR = P x Q
How do firms make their demand more inelastic?
Differentiating their products from competition to try to achieve brand loyalty
Why do elasticities vary?
- % of income used
- substitutability
- time to respond to a price change
- width of the market