--%>
Assignment Help - homework help

Income Elasticities of Demand

Question:

(a)  Suppose the income elasticity of demand for pre-recorded music compact disks is +4 and the income elasticity of demand for a cabinet maker's work is +0.4.  Compare the impact on pre-recorded music compact disks and the cabinet maker's work of a recession that reduces consumer incomes by 10 per cent.

(b)  How might you determine whether the pre-recorded music compact discs and MP3 music players are in competition with each other?

(c)   Interpret the following Income Elasticities of Demand (YED) values for the following and state if the good is normal or inferior; YED= +0.5 and YED= -2.5

(d)   Interpret the following Cross-Price Elasticities of Demand (XED) and explain the relationship between these goods. XED= + 0.64 and XED= -2.6

Answer:

a) A positive elasticity means that an increase in income will lead to an increase in the consumption and fall in income will lead to a fall in consumption. If the income of the consumer declines by 10%, then there will be a 40% (4 x 10) fall in the consumption of pre-recorded music CDs and 4%(10 x 0.4) decline in the demand of cabinet maker's work.

b) This can be determined by the cross elastic of the two goods. If the cross elasticity of demand is negative then the goods will be complements to each other and hence they will not be in competition. However, if the cross elasticity of demand is positive then the goods are substitutes and they are in competition.

c) For first good the income elasticity of demand is 0.5 which means that if income increases by 1% then the demand will increase by 0.5%. This makes the food a normal good.

For the second good, the income elasticity of demand is -2.5, which means that an increase in income by 1% will lead to a fall in demand by -2.5%. This means that the good is inferior good.

d) A positive elasticity means that increase in price of one good leads to an increase in demand of the other good. This is the case of substitute goods.

A negative cross elasticity of demand, on the other hand, means that an increase in price of one good leads to a decrease in the demand for the other good. This happens in the case of complements.

   Related Questions in Microeconomics

  • Q : Arbitrager-individual or organization

    The arbitrager is an organization or individual that will: (1) Simultaneously purchase low and sell high in various markets. (2) Create disparities among prices in various markets. (3) Resolve disputes among sellers and consumers. (4) Purchase low and

    		•
  • Q : Illustrate an example of relative price

    Joy waits into a long line at her local bookstore therefore she can be between the first to buy and read a newly-printed hardback copy of the newest Harry Potter adventure. And Lindsay waits till a lower priced paperback edition is printed just before buying any Potte

    		•
  • Q : Goals of the Firm-Profit Maximization

    The supposition that firms try to maximize the profits: (i) Is the beginning point for most of the economic analyses of how firms function. (ii) Can be wrong for the cases in which the professional corporate managers maximize their own self interests rather than the i

    		•
  • Q : Horizontally summing the short-run

    For a competitive industry the short-run supply curve is derived through summing the short-run supply curves of all firms within the industry: (w) vertically. (x) horizontally. (y) diagonally. (z) and computing their arithmetic average.

  • Q : Quantity demands equivalent quantity

    These supply and demand curves for sugar propose that the: (1) demand price exceeds the supply price at quantity Q2. (2) technology should advance to allow output to develop to Q4. (3) quantity demanded equals quantity supplied at P1.

    		•
  • Q : Problem on Paradox of Value I have a

    I have a problem in economics on Problem on Paradox of Value. Please help me in the following question. Since diamonds are much expensive as relative to water, the: (i) Fundamental needs of people don’t comprise water. (ii) Consumer surplus from consuming the di

    		•
  • Q : Differnt types of demand and supply i

    i want to understand different market competitions using graphs and solving some problems

    		•
  • Q : Labor markets gain maximization When,

    When, after hiring the very last worker, the organization’s profit is similar as it was before the last worker was hired, then the firm must: (p) Hire more workers to raise the profit. (q) Layoff some workers to raise the profit. (r) Not appoint any more workers

    		•
  • Q : Equilibrium market price and quantity

    Equilibrium market price and quantity would definitely both falls when demand declines and supply will: (w) decreases. (x) increases. (y) is constant. (z) pulsates rhythmically. I need a good answer on the topic of

    		•
  • Q : Production possibilities curves Give me

    Give me answer of this question. The production possibilities curves following suggest that: A) West Mudville should specialize in, and export, baseball bats. B) West Mudville should specialize in, and export, both baseballs and baseball bats. C) East Mudville should

    		•