Define and Explain the Concept

Price elasticity of demand is defined as how demand changes as a result of a change in price. It can be said that if a reduction in price leads to an increase in demand then demand is relatively elastic. Elasticity is usually negative. There is an alternative scenario where demand will increase as price does so too. This happens only in the case of Giffen goods, where elasticity is positive. The formula for price elasticity of demand is: Percentage Change in Quantity Demanded Percentage Change in Price One determinant of price elasticity is the number and closeness of substitutes there are available for a good. The closer the goods are, the greater will be the price elasticity of demand of that good. The reason for this being that people will be able to switch to the substitutes when the price of the original good goes up. The greater the number of substitutes and the closer they are, the more people will be able to switch, and so the bigger the substitution effect will be of any price rise. Another determinant is the proportion of income spent on the good. The higher the proportion of our income that is spent on a good, the more we will forced to cut back consumption in the event of a price rise, so the bigger the income effect and the more elastic the demand will be. This is the reason salt has a very low price elasticity of demand. We spend such a small proportion of income on salt that a relatively big percentage increase in the price of salt is borne by us without too much difficulty, so the income effect would be pretty small. One other determinant of price elasticity of demand is the time period. When prices rise people may take time to adjust their consumption patterns and find alternatives. The longer the time after a price change, then, the more elastic is demand likely to be. Income elasticity is a measure of responsiveness of the demand to a change in incomes. Income elasticity is important to firms considering the future