In: Economics
As a demand analyst working for a supermarket chain, you have obtained the following information from your stores' price scanner system: as the price of avocados decreases from 40¢ to 30¢ , the quantity demanded of avocados in your areas changes from 18,000 to 22,000 avocados per week.
a. find the own price elasticity for avocados. (You do not need to show your work, just enter in the final answer)
b. Is demand for avocados relatively elastic or inelastic? Would it be a wise move on the part of the supermarket to lower prices from 40¢ to 30¢, in terms of total revenue generation (be specific‑‑show the dollar change in total revenue that occurs)?
a. The own price elasticity of demand is -0.88
P |
Q |
% change in P |
% change in Q |
Ed |
40 |
18000 |
|||
30 |
22000 |
=(30-40)/40 =-0.25 |
=(22000-18000)/18000 =0.22 |
=0.22/-0.25 =-0.88 |
b. The demand for avocados is inelastic as the value of the elasticity is less than 1 in absolute terms
P |
Q |
TR |
Change in TR |
40 |
18000 |
=40*18000=720000 |
|
30 |
22000 |
=30*22000=660000 |
=660000-720000 =-60000.00 |
No, the move to reduce the price from 40 to 30 C, is not a wise move as we can observe that the total revenue decreases. The total revenue at 40 C is 720000 and at 30 C is 660000, change in total revenue is 60000