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Markets and Equilibrium

Tracing effects between interrelated markets

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  • Unit AS 1

Overview

Joint supply and competitive supply.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Distinguish between joint supply and competitive supply.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Distinguish between joint supply and competitive supply.

    Model answer

    In joint supply two goods are produced together from the same process, so more of one automatically brings more of the other and their supplies move in the same direction. In competitive supply two goods can be made from the same resources but not simultaneously, so devoting resources to one means less of the other and their supplies move in opposite directions. Beef and hides illustrate the first; wheat and barley on the same field illustrate the second.

  2. 2

    Explain how the labour market and the product market for restaurant meals are interrelated in both directions.

    Model answer

    The demand for restaurant staff is derived from the demand for meals, so when eating out becomes more popular the demand for chefs and waiting staff shifts right and wages in the sector rise. Running in the other direction, a rise in restaurant wages raises the marginal cost of producing a meal, so the supply curve for meals shifts left and the price of meals rises. Each market therefore acts on the other, and a shock in either will be felt in both.

  3. 3

    A new industrial use is discovered for a metal previously used only in jewellery. Analyse the effects across the affected markets.

    Model answer

    The metal is now in composite demand, and total demand for it shifts to the right, raising its price and the quantity mined. In the jewellery market the higher input price raises the marginal cost of production, so the supply of jewellery shifts left and its price rises while quantity falls. In the mining sector, higher prices raise profits, which attracts investment and shifts the supply of the metal right over time, moderating the price. Demand for the labour and equipment used in mining, being derived, also rises.

  4. 4

    Explain how a rise in the world price of oil is transmitted to the market for air travel.

    Model answer

    Aviation fuel is refined from crude, so a higher crude price raises the price of jet fuel because crude is an input cost, not because the two are in joint supply. Fuel is a large share of an airline's operating cost, so the marginal cost of each flight rises and the supply curve for air travel shifts to the left. The equilibrium price of tickets rises and the number of journeys falls. Because demand for leisure air travel is fairly responsive to price, much of the adjustment shows up as fewer flights rather than as a full pass-through into fares.

  5. 5

    Explain why a shock to a single commodity market can have effects across an entire economy.

    Model answer

    Commodities are inputs into a great many products, so their demand is derived from a wide range of markets and their prices feed into the costs of all of them. A rise in the price of oil, wheat or a key metal therefore shifts supply curves left across many industries at once, raising prices generally. Households facing higher fuel and food bills also have less to spend on other goods, shifting demand curves left elsewhere. The initial shock is amplified by the network of connections between markets.

  6. 6

    Analyse the effect on the market for agricultural land of a large increase in demand for housing near a city.

    Model answer

    Land near the city is in composite demand, since the same acres can be farmed or built on. Higher housing demand raises the price developers will pay, which is greater than the return from farming, so land is transferred out of agriculture and the supply of farmland near the city shifts left. Its price rises to match the value in the alternative use. Agricultural output from the area falls, which shifts the supply of local produce left and raises its price, and the demand for farm labour in the area, being derived, falls.

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Key Economic Concepts
The Basic Economic Problem of Scarcity and Choice
Demand and Supply in Product Markets
Markets and Equilibrium

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