Edexcel A-Level Economics B 9EB0
Scarcity, Choice and Potential Conflicts
Enterprise, Business and the Economy
Introducing the Market
The Role of Credit in the Economy
Market Failure and Government Intervention
Revenue, Costs, Profits and Cash
Business Growth and Competitive Advantage
Firms, Consumers and Elasticities of Demand
Productive Efficiency
Life in a Global Economy
The Economic Cycle
Introduction to Macroeconomic Policy
Globalisation
Economic Factors in Business Expansion
Impact of Globalisation on Global Companies
Impact of Globalisation on Local and National Economies
Global Labour Markets
Inequality and Re-Distribution
Competition and Market Power
Market Power and Market Failure
Market Failure Across the Economy
Macroeconomic Policies and Impact on Firms and Individuals
Risk and the Financial Sector
Firms, Consumers and Elasticities of Demand
Calculating and interpreting price elasticity of demand
- 3 things to know
- Papers 2 and 3
Overview
The formula for price elasticity of demand and why it is negative, calculating it from price and quantity changes, interpreting values, perfectly inelastic demand and its curve, unit elasticity, elastic against inelastic demand, elasticity along a straight-line demand curve, the price cut needed for a sales target, and estimates from past data.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Why is the price elasticity of demand negative for almost every good?
A firm raises its price from £2.00 to £2.20 and weekly sales fall from 500 to 450 units. Calculate the price elasticity of demand.
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is the formula for price elasticity of demand?
Model answer
Price elasticity of demand is the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price.
- 2
Why is the price elasticity of demand negative for almost every good?
Model answer
Price and quantity demanded move in opposite directions, so one of the two percentage changes is positive while the other is negative.
- 3
A firm raises its price from £2.00 to £2.20 and weekly sales fall from 500 to 450 units. Calculate the price elasticity of demand.
Model answer
Price rises by 10% and quantity falls by 10%, so the price elasticity of demand is −1.0.
- 4
Quantity demanded falls by 4% when price rises by 8%. Calculate the price elasticity of demand and state what it shows.
Model answer
The price elasticity of demand is −0.5, which shows that demand is price inelastic.
- 5
A firm cuts its price by 5% and the quantity sold rises by 15%. Calculate the price elasticity of demand.
Model answer
The price elasticity of demand is −3.0.
- 6
What does a price elasticity of demand of −0.3 tell a firm about the response to a price rise?
Model answer
Demand is highly inelastic, because a 1% rise in price reduces quantity demanded by only 0.3%.
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