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ECONOMICS
and
MICROECONO
MICS
Paul Krugman | Robin
Wells
Chapter 6
Elasticity
WHAT
YOU
WILL
LEARN
IN THIS
CHAPTER
$21
20
9.9 10.0
Price Elasticity
Inelastic demand
Eggs
Beef
Stationery
Gasoline
0.1
0.4
Price elasticity
of demand < 1
0.5
0.5
Elastic demand
Housing
Restaurant meals
Airline travel
Foreign travel
1.2
2.3
2.4
4.1
Price elasticity
of demand > 1
Price of
shoelaces
(per pair)
D
$3
An increase in
price
$2
leaves the
quantity demanded
unchanged.
1
Quantity of shoelaces (billions of pairs per
year)
Price of pink
tennis balls
(per dozen)
At exactly
$5,
consumers
will buy any
quantity
B
$1.10
A 20%
increase in
0.90
the
price . . .
D1
900
1,100
Quantity of bridge
crossings (per day)
Inelastic Demand
(b) Inelastic Demand: Price Elasticity of Demand = 0.5
Price of bridge crossing
B
A 20% $1.10
increase in
the price . . . 0.90
D
2
0
950
1,050
Quantity of bridge
crossings (per day)
Elastic Demand
(c) Elastic Demand: Price Elasticity of Demand = 2
Price of bridge crossing
$1.10
A 20%
increase in
0.90
the price . . .
B
A
D
800
1,200
generates a 40%
decrease in the quantity
of crossings demanded.
Quantity of bridge
crossings (per day)
$0.90
Total revenue =
price x quantity =
$990
1,100
Quantity of bridge
crossings
(per day)
$1.10
Quantity effect
of price
increase: fewer
units sold
0.90
900 1,100
Elastic
$10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Unitelastic
Inelastic
D
1
Total
revenu
e
9 10
Quantity
$25
24
21
16
9
0
Demand is
elastic: a
higher price
reduces total
revenue
9 10
Quantity
Demand is
inelastic: a higher
price increases
total revenue
How Mad?
ECONOMICS IN ACTION
Responding to Your Tuition Bill
Tuition has been rising faster than the overall
cost of living for years. But does rising tuition
keep people from going to college?
A 1988 study found that a 3% increase in tuition
led to an approximately 2% fall in the number of
students enrolled at four-year institutions, giving
a price elasticity of demand of 0.67 (2%/3%) and
0.9 for two-year institutions.
Cross-Price Elasticity
Goods are substitutes when the cross-price
elasticity of demand is positive.
Goods are complements when the cross-price
elasticity of demand is negative.
S
1
$3,000
An increase in
price
2,000
100
Quantity of cell
phone
frequencies
Perfectly Elastic
Supply: Price
Elasticity of Supply =
Price of
pizza
At exactly
$12,
producers
will produce
any quantityS
2
Quantity of pizzas
ECONOMICS IN ACTION
European Farm Surpluses
An Elasticity Menagerie
An Elasticity Menagerie
SUMMARY
1. Elasticity is a general measure of
responsiveness that can be used to answer
such questions.
2. The price elasticity of demandthe
percent change in the quantity demanded
divided by the percent change in the price
(dropping the minus sign)is a measure of
the responsiveness of the quantity demanded
to changes in the price.
SUMMARY
3. The responsiveness of the quantity demanded
to price can range from perfectly inelastic
demand, where the quantity demanded is
unaffected by the price, to perfectly elastic
demand, where there is a unique price at
which consumers will buy as much or as little
as they are offered.
When demand is perfectly inelastic, the
demand curve is a vertical line; when it is
perfectly elastic, the demand curve is a
horizontal line.
SUMMARY
4. The price elasticity of demand is classified
according to whether it is more or less than 1.
If it is greater than 1, demand is elastic; if it
is less than 1, demand is inelastic; if it is
exactly 1, demand is unit-elastic. This
classification determines how total revenue,
the total value of sales, changes when the
price changes.
5. The price elasticity of demand depends on
whether there are close substitutes for the
good, whether the good is a necessity or a
luxury, the share of income spent on the
good, and the length of time that has elapsed
since the price change.
SUMMARY
6. The cross-price elasticity of demand
measures the effect of a change in one goods
price on the quantity of another good
demanded.
7. The income elasticity of demand is the
percent change in the quantity of a good
demanded when a consumers income
changes divided by the percent change in
income. If the income elasticity is greater than
1, a good is income elastic; if it is positive
and less than 1, the good is incomeinelastic.
SUMMARY
8. The price elasticity of supply is the percent
change in the quantity of a good supplied
divided by the percent change in the price. If
the quantity supplied does not change at all,
we have an instance of perfectly inelastic
supply; the supply curve is a vertical line. If
the quantity supplied is zero below some price
but infinite above that price, we have an
instance of perfectly elastic supply; the
supply curve is a horizontal line.
9. The price elasticity of supply depends on (1)
the availability of resources to expand
production, and (2) time. It is higher when
inputs are available at relatively low cost and
KEY TERMS