price elasticity of demand Flashcards
chain for ped
ped is %change in Q demanded/%change in P in order to measure how much a quantity demanded will respond to a change in price
with this you can determine what to do with his prices
ped chain negative
whether price goes up or down ped will always be negative because there is almost always one decreasing variable due to the inverse relationship
why get a ped bigger than 1
would happen when top of formula is bigger than the bottom and demand is elastic (consumers are very responsive)
the % change in price will lead to a bigger % change in quantity demanded.
inelastic demand
when ped is between -1 and 0 that means that ped is inelastic and demand is unresponsive to changes in price
the % change in price will lead to a smaller % change in quantity demanded.
ped of just -1
top of our formula is the same size as the bottom
demand is unitary elastic
perfectly inelastic demand curve
price has no effect on quantity demanded
or instance, if the price of life-saving medicine were to skyrocket, a patient in need of the medication to save their life would continue to demand the same quantity of medication because they need it to survive, so they’ll be completely unresponsive to changes in price, suggesting perfectly inelastic demand.
A drug addict hooked on heroine or cocaine, will also continue to demand drugs even if price increases because their addictions will force them to continue buying, which means their demand is unresponsive to changes in price, again suggesting perfectly inelastic demand.
as we get closer to zero demand gets steep and more inelastic till its perfectly inelastic
perfectly elastic demand
completely flat/horizontal if price was to change at all consumers will respond infinitely if price changes & consumers will immediately switch to a cheaper seller
unitary elastic demand
looks like a curve L
quickly tell me the factors affecting price elasticity
naab pt
neccessity
addiction and habit
availability of substitutes
brand loyalty
proportion of income
time period
neccesity or luxury
necessity something we need we are unresponsive to price suggesting inelasticity luxury something we dont need we are responsive suggesting elastic demand
addiction or habbit
addiction/ habit leads to low responsiveness to price due to addiction and inelasticity of demand with habbit consumers cant break habitual behaviour
substitute availability
A substitute is a product which can replace another product
if there a few substitutes consumers are unresponsive to changes in price leading to inelastic demand
however if there are many substitutes consumers are highly responsive causing elastic demand
brand loyalty
how loyal consumers are to a brand or how strong branding is
so strong brand loyalty means inelastic demand and weak brand loyalty suggests elastic demand
proportion of income
if a good takes up a larger portion of your income consumers will b every responsive to price suggesting elastic demand
whereas if you spend a small proprtion of your income on a good a small change in price has less impact suggesting inelasticity
Laptops are more likely to be elastic, because they take up a larger proportion of consumers’ incomes. For instance, if the price of a £500 laptop changed by 10%, that would equate to a £50 change in price, which will have a significant impact on the consumer, so they’ll be very responsive to this change in price, suggesting elastic demand.
Biro pens are more likely to be inelastic, because they take up a smaller proportion of consumers’ incomes. For instance, if the price of a 10p biro pen change by 10%, that would equate to only a 1p change in price, which will have a very little impact on consumers, so they’ll be less responsive to changes in price, suggesting inelastic demand.
time
in short run consumers are not as responsive to change in price making it inelastic due to thing like sudden shock and not enough time to consider all options
however in the long run with more time consumers are more responsive to price changes leading to elastic demand on the basis of subtitutes and other factors