Essays on Price Elasticity of Demand Assignment

The paper "Price Elasticity of Demand" is a wonderful example of ana assignment on macro and microeconomics. Q.1 A. Price Elasticity of Demand: It is the measure of the degree of response of one variable to changes in another. Thus, the price elasticity of demand for a particular good is the relative degree of responsiveness of the quantity demanded to relative changes in its price. The elasticity of demand can be generally assessed from the steepness of the slope of the demand curve in a supply-demand graph. A very steeply sloping demand curve indicates that a given percentage increase in price will cause a small percentage decrease in the quantity of the commodity (inelastic demand), while a very gently sloping demand curve shows that a given percentage increase in price will produce a large percentage decrease in the quantity (elastic demand). Elasticity is numerically calculated by the percentage change in the dependent variable (quantity demanded) divided by the associated percentage change in the independent variable (price).

Ignoring the plus or minus sign, an elasticity greater than 1 is referred to as relatively elastic and an elasticity less than 1 is referred to as relatively inelastic.

Elasticity exactly equal to 1 is known as unit elasticity. Elasticity = (dY/dX) * X/Y where X is the independent variable (price, income, etc. ) and Y is the dependent variable (quantity demanded, quantity supplied, etc). Calculating the Percentage Change in Quantity Demanded [700 - 1000] / 1000 = (-300/1000) = -0.3 Calculating the Percentage Change in Price [2.50 – 2.20] /2.20 = (0.3/2.20) = 0.1363 Thus elasticity is e = (% Change in Quantity Demanded)/(% Change in Price) e = (-0.3)/(0.1363) = -2.200 For analyzing the price elasticity the negative value is ignored.

The higher the price elasticity, the more sensitive consumers are to price changes. A very high price elasticity suggests that when the price of a good goes up, consumers will buy a great deal less of it and when the price of that good goes down, consumers will buy a great deal more. A very low price elasticity implies just the opposite, that changes in price have little influence on demand. In general, If e > 1 then Demand is Price Elastic (Demand is sensitive to price changes) If e = 1 then Demand is Unit Elastic, If e < 1 then Demand is Price Inelastic (Demand is not sensitive to price changes)

References

Akers, Jessica. and Fernandez, Dennis., “How Antitrust Laws Affect Intellectual Property”,

La Vox , 2000

Bronfenbrenner , Kate., “Declining Unionization, Rising Inequality”, Multinational Monitor 24 : 5 , 2003

Espey, Molly., “Explaining the variation in elasticity estimates of gasoline demand in the United States: A meta-analysis”, Energy Journal.

Krugman, Paul, and Robin, Wells. Microeconomics. Worth Publishers, New York., 2005

Lawrence, Kudlow., “The Judicial Hacker”, in Jewish World Review, 2000

Murray, Rothbard., “ The State Versus Liberty” in The Ethics of Liberty, 1982

SAFEWAY STORES, INC., v. VANCE, 355 U.S. 389 (1958) ,

Schmitt, John., Zipperer, Ben. “Union Rates Fall in 2006, Severe Drop in Manufacturing”, 2007

Sparks, Brian. “Slotting fee battle continues.” American Fruit Grower. 2001

Wachdor, Haley, “ Ophthalmologists raise brows over proposed optometry bill”

New Mexico Business Weekly , 2007