THE CONCEPT OF ELASTICITY OF DEMAND AND DEFINITION In economics, elasticity is the measurement of how changing one economic variable

affects others. For example: "If I lower the price of my product, how much more will I sell?" "If I raise the price, how much less will I sell?" "If we learn that a resource is becoming scarce, will people scramble to acquire it?" In more technical terms, it is the ratio of the percentage change in one variable to the percentage change in another variable. It is a tool for measuring the responsiveness of a function to changes in parameters in a unitless way. Frequently used elasticities include price elasticity of demand, price elasticity of supply, income elasticity of demand, elasticity of substitution between factors of production and elasticity of intertemporal substitution. Elasticity is one of the most important concepts in neoclassical economic theory. It is useful in understanding the incidence of indirect taxation, marginal concepts as they relate to the theory of the firm, and distribution of wealth and different types of goods as they relate to the theory of consumer choice. Elasticity is also crucially important in any discussion of welfare distribution, in particular consumer surplus, producer surplus, or government surplus. TYPES OF ELASTICITY OF DEMAND (1) Price Elasticity of Demand:

Definition and Explanation:

The concept of price elasticity of demand is commonly used in economic literature. Price elasticity of demand is the degree of responsiveness of quantity demanded of a good to a change in its price. Precisely, it is defined as:

"The ratio of proportionate change in the quantity demanded of a good caused by a given proportionate change in price".

Formula:

The formula for measuring price elasticity of demand is:

Price Elasticity of Demand = Percentage in Quantity Demand Percentage Change in Price

Ed = q X P p Q

Example:

Let us suppose that price of a good falls from $10 per unit to $9 per unit in a day. The decline in price causes the quantity of the good demanded to increase from 125 units to 150 units per day. The price elasticity using the simplified formula will be:

Ed = q X P p Q

q = 150 - 125 = 25

p = 10 - 9 = 1

Original Quantity = 125

Original Price = 10

Ed = 25 / 1 x 10 / 125 = 2

The elasticity coefficient is greater than one. Therefore the demand for the good is elastic.

Types:

The concept of price elasticity of demand can be used to divide the goods in to three groups.

(i) Elastic. When the percent change in quantity of a good is greater than the percent change in its price, the demand is said to be elastic. When elasticity of demand is greater than one, a fall in price increases the total revenue (expenditure) and a rise in price lowers the total revenue (expenditure).

(ii) Unitary Elasticity. When the percentage change in the quantity of a good demanded equals percentage in its price, the price elasticity of demand is said to have unitary elasticity. When elasticity of demand is equal to one or unitary, a rise or fall in price leaves total revenue unchanged.

(iii) Inelastic. When the percent change in quantity of a good demanded is less than the percentage change in its price, the demand is called inelastic. When elasticity of demand is inelastic or less than one, a fall in price decreases total revenue and a rise in its price increases total revenue.

(2) Income Elasticity of Demand:

Definition and Explanation:

Income is an important variable affecting the demand for a good. When there is a change in the level of income of a consumer, there is a change in the quantity demanded of a good, other factors remaining the same. The degree of change or responsiveness of quantity demanded of a good to a change in the income of a consumer is called income elasticity of demand. Income elasticity of demand can be defined as:

"The ratio of percentage change in the quantity of a good purchased, per unit of time to a percentage change in the income of a consumer".

Formula:

The formula for measuring the income elasticity of demand is the percentage change in demand for a good divided by the percentage change in income. Putting this in symbol gives.

Ey = Percentage Change in Demand Percentage Change in Income

Simplified formula:

Ey = q X P p Q

Example:

A simple example will show how income elasticity of demand can be calculated. Let us assume that the income of a person is $4000 per month and he purchases six CD's per month. Let us assume that the monthly income of the consumer increase to $6000 and the quantity demanded of CD's per month rises to eight. The elasticity of demand for CD's will be calculated as under:

q = 8 - 6 = 2

p = $6000 - $4000 = $2000

Original quantity demanded = 6

Original income = $4000

Ey = q / p x P / Q = 2 / 200 x 4000 / 6 = 0.66

The income elasticity is 0.66 which is less than one.

Types:

When the income of a person increases, his demand for goods also changes depending upon whether the good is a normal good or an inferior good. For normal goods, the value of elasticity is greater than zero but less than one. Goods with an income elasticity of less than 1 are called inferior goods. For example, people buy more food as their income rises but the % increase in its demand is less than the % increase in income.

(3) Cross Elasticity of Demand:

Definition and Explanation:

The concept of cross elasticity of demand is used for measuring the responsiveness of quantity demanded of a good to changes in the price of related goods. Cross elasticity of demand is defined as:

"The percentage change in the demand of one good as a result of the percentage change in the price of another good".

Formula:

The formula for measuring, cross, elasticity of demand is:

Exy = % Change in Quantity Demanded of Good X % Change in Price of Good Y

The numerical value of cross elasticity depends on whether the two goods in question are substitutes, complements or unrelated.

Types and Example:

(i) Substitute Goods. When two goods are substitute of each other, such as coke and Pepsi, an increase in the price of one good will lead to an increase in demand for the other good. The numerical value of goods is positive.

For example there are two goods. Coke and Pepsi which are close substitutes. If there is increase in the price of Pepsi called good y by 10% and it increases the demand for Coke called good X by 5%, the cross elasticity of demand would be:

Exy = %qx / %py = 0.2

Since Exy is positive (E > 0), therefore, Coke and Pepsi are close substitutes.

(ii) Complementary Goods. However, in case of complementary goods such as car and petrol, cricket bat and ball, a rise in the price of one good say cricket bat by 7% will bring a fall in the demand for the balls (say by 6%). The cross elasticity of demand which are complementary to each other is, therefore, 6% / 7% = 0.85 (negative).

(iii) Unrelated Goods. The two goods which a re unrelated to each other, say apples and pens, if the price of apple rises in the market, it is unlikely to result in a change in quantity demanded of pens. The elasticity is zero of unrelated goods.

PRICE ELASTICITY OF DEMAND DEFINITION Take other notes from the textbook. Price elasticity of demand (PED or Ed) is a measure used in economics to show the responsiveness, or elasticity, of the quantity demanded of a good or service to a change in its price. More precisely, it gives the percentage change in quantity demanded in response to a one percent change in price (holding constant all the other determinants of demand, such as income). It was devised by Alfred Marshall. Price elasticities are almost always negative, although analysts tend to ignore the sign even though this can lead to ambiguity. Only goods which do not conform to the law of demand, such as Veblen and Giffen goods, have a positive PED. In general, the demand for a good is said to be inelastic (or relatively inelastic) when the PED is less than one (in absolute value): that is, changes in price have a relatively small effect on the quantity of the good demanded. The demand for a good is said to be elastic (or relatively elastic) when its PED is greater than one (in absolute value): that is, changes in price have a relatively large effect on the quantity of a good demanded. Revenue is maximized when price is set so that the PED is exactly one. The PED of a good can also be used to predict the incidence (or "burden") of a tax on that good. Various research methods are used to determine price elasticity, including test markets, analysis of historical sales data and conjoint analysis. TYPES OF PRICE ELASTICITY OF DEMAND Five cases of Elasticity of Demand:

1. Perfectly elastic demand

2. Perfectly inelastic demand

3. Relatively elastic demand

4. Relatively inelastic demand

5. Unitary elastic demand

1. Perfectly elastic demand:

The demand is said to be perfectly .elastic when a very insignificant change in price leads to an infinite change in quantity demanded. A very small fall in price causes demand to rise infinitely. Likewise a very insignificant rise in price reduces the demand to zero. This case is theoretical which is never found in real life.

2. Perfectly inelastic demand:

The demand is said to be perfectly inelastic when a change in price produces no change in the quantity demanded of a commodity. In such a case quantity demanded remains constant regardless of change in price. The amount demanded is totally unresponsive of change in price. The elasticity of demand is said to be zero.

3. Relatively more elastic demand:

The demand is relatively more elastic when a small change in price causes a greater change in quantity demanded. In such a case a proportionate change in price of a commodity causes more than proportionate change in quantity demanded. If price changes by 10% the quantity demanded of the commodity change by more than 10% i.e. 25%. The demand curve in such a situation is relatively flatter.

4. Relatively inelastic demand:

It is a situation where a greater change in price leads to smaller change in quantity demanded. The demand is said to be relatively inelastic when a proportionate change in price is greater than the proportionate change in quantity demanded. For example If price falls by 20% quantity demanded rises by less than 20% i.e 15%.

5. Unitary elastic demand:

The demand is said to be unit when a change in price produces exactly the same percentage change in the quantity demanded of a commodity. In such a situation the percentage change in both the price and quantity demanded is the same. For example if the price falls by 25% the quantity demanded rises by the same 25%. It takes the shape of a rectangular hyperbola. Numerically elasticity of demand is said to be equal to 1.(ed = 1). CASE STUDY--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SELECT 3 DIFFERENT COMMODITIES SHOWINGRELATIVELY ELASTIC DEMAND-(LUXURIES/COMMODITIES OF VARIOUS USES) RELATIVELY INELASTIC DEMAND-(ESSENTIAL ITEMS/ITEMS OF ADDICTIVE CONSUMPTION) PERFECTLY INELASTIC DEMAND-(LIFE-SAVING MEDICINES) JUSTIFY AND MATCH THE COMMODITIES YOU HAVE CHOSEN WITH THE TYPE OF ELASTICITY THEY NEED TO EXHIBIT WITH PROPER REASONS. EVALUATION---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Discuss the relativityof the concept of price elasticity(an elastic demand for a product may appear inelastic demand for the same product or another Discuss the determinants of price elasticity in a society CONCLUSION---------------------------------------------------------------------------Importance/Significance of price elasticity of demand Your gainful experience while doing the project ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BIBLIOGRAPHY WEBSITES VISITED AND INFORMATION COLLECTED FROM