In: Economics
Suppose at the price of $8 per ton of flour, quantity demand for flour is 50 thousand tons. However when price changes to $12 per ton, quantity demand for flour decreases to 40 thousand tons and at the same time quantity demand for rice increases from 20 thousand tons to 35 thousand tons.
a. Price Elasticity of Demand
Given:
P1 = $8 |
Q1 = 50000 |
P2 = $12 |
Q2 = 40000 |
Price elasticity of demand =
Price elasticity of demand =
Price elasticity of demand = (-)2500 * 0.00016 = (-) 0.4
Ed = 0.4 (less than 1)
Relatively inelastic demand: Ed < 1
Relatively inelastic demand means the change in demand of flour is less than that of change in its price.
b. Cross Elasticity of Demand
Given:
Price of flour (P of good Y) |
Quantity of rice (Q of good X) |
P1 = $8 |
Q1 = 20000 |
P2 = $12 |
Q2 = 35000 |
Cross elasticity of demand = %change in quantity demanded for good
X / %change in price of good Y
(or)
Cross elasticity of demand =
Cross elasticity of demand =
Cross elasticity of demand = 3750 * 0.0004 = 1.5
Cross elasticity of demand = 1.5
Exy = 1.5 (greater than 0)
If the elasticity value is greater than zero, then the two goods are said to be substitutes.
Exy > 0 : Substitutes
Rice and flour are substitutes.