Key term
Eduqas A-Level Economics A520QS
Scarcity, Choice and the Economic Problem
Topic overviewScarcity, choice and the basic economic problemThe factors of production and their rewardsOpportunity cost for individuals, firms and governmentEconomic goods, free goods and the three fundamental questionsThe production possibility frontier and its shapeMovements along and shifts in the frontierEfficiency, unemployed resources and the frontierSpecialisation, the division of labour and exchangeProductivity and how it is raised
Demand, Supply and Market Equilibrium
Topic overviewProduct markets and the objectives of economic agentsMarginal utility and the derivation of demandThe demand curve and why it slopes downwardThe conditions of demand and shifts in the demand curveSupply and why the supply curve slopes upwardThe conditions of supply and shifts in the supply curveEquilibrium price and output in a competitive marketShifts in demand and supply and the new equilibriumConsumer surplus, producer surplus and market welfare
Elasticities of Demand and Supply
Topic overviewPrice elasticity of demand and its calculationWhat determines price elasticity of demandPrice elasticity of demand and total revenueElasticity along a straight-line demand curveIncome elasticity of demand, normal and inferior goodsCross price elasticity of demand, substitutes and complementsPrice elasticity of supply and its determinantsElasticity and the incidence of taxes and subsidiesElasticity in decision-making by firms and government
The Labour Market
Topic overviewThe demand for labour and what shifts itThe supply of labour and what shifts itWage determination in a competitive labour marketThe elasticity of demand and supply of labourWage differentials and their causesLabour market flexibility and trade union powerWelfare payments, income tax and labour market performanceThe national minimum wageMigration and the labour market
Costs, Revenues, Profits and the Growth of Firms
Topic overviewPrices, profit and the allocation of resourcesThe short run, the long run and diminishing returnsTotal, average and marginal productFixed and variable costs in the short runAverage and marginal cost curves and their shapesTotal, average and marginal revenueEconomies and diseconomies of scale and the long run average cost curveProfit maximisation and the MC = MR ruleNormal profit, abnormal profit and economic profitInternal and external growth and types of integrationProductive, allocative, dynamic and Pareto efficiency
Market Structures
Topic overviewMarket structure, contestability and barriers to entryBusiness objectives and satisficingPerfect competition and its assumptionsShort run and long run equilibrium in perfect competitionThe efficiency of perfect competitionMonopolistic competition and its assumptionsShort run and long run equilibrium in monopolistic competitionThe efficiency of monopolistic competitionMonopoly and its assumptionsMonopoly compared with perfect competitionThe costs and benefits of monopolyOligopoly, interdependence and concentration ratiosPrice and non-price competition, collusion and price leadershipGame theory and the Nash equilibrium
Competition Policy and Privatisation
Topic overviewWhy governments are concerned about monopoly powerMerger control and market investigationsCartels, restrictive practices and abuse of dominanceCompetition authorities and how they workRegulating natural monopolies and the utilitiesContestable markets and barriers to entryThe limits of competition as a policy goalPrivatisation and the forms it takesEvaluating privatisation and the case for renationalisation
Market Failure and Government Intervention
Topic overviewMarket failure and economic efficiencyExternalities, welfare loss and the socially efficient outputPublic goods, free riding and property rightsMerit goods, demerit goods and information failureMonopoly power, factor immobility and volatile pricesTaxation, subsidies and tradable pollution permitsRegulation, state provision and information provisionMaximum and minimum prices in agriculture, housing and labourGovernment failure and distortions in marketsIncome inequality as a market failure
The Circular Flow and Aggregate Demand
Topic overviewThe circular flow of incomeInjections, withdrawals and equilibrium national incomeThe multiplierThe acceleratorAggregate demand and its componentsConsumption and savingInvestment and its determinantsGovernment spending and net tradeThe AD function: why it slopes down and what shifts it
Aggregate Supply and the Phillips Curve
Topic overviewAggregate supply and the AD/AS frameworkThe short run aggregate supply curveShifts in short run aggregate supplyThe Neo-Classical long run aggregate supply curveThe Keynesian long run aggregate supply curveShifts in long run aggregate supplyMacroeconomic equilibrium and adjustment to the long runThe short run Phillips curveExpectations, the long run Phillips curve and the NAIRUShifts in the long run Phillips curve
Economic Growth
Topic overviewMacroeconomic policy objectives and the conflicts between themMeasuring economic growthActual growth and potential growthIllustrating growth on the PPF and in AD/AS analysisOutput gapsThe business cycle and recessionThe causes of economic growthPolicy instruments used to create growthThe benefits and costs of economic growth
Unemployment
Topic overviewThe labour force, economic activity and inactivityMeasuring unemploymentProblems in measuring unemployment accuratelyThe economic and social costs of unemploymentCyclical unemployment and demand side causesFrictional, structural and seasonal unemploymentReal wage unemployment and incentives to workThe natural rate of unemploymentDemand side solutions to unemploymentSupply side solutions to unemploymentChoosing between demand side and supply side approaches
Inflation and Deflation
Topic overviewInflation, deflation and disinflation definedPrice indices, the basket and weightingCalculating index numbers and the inflation rateThe main measures of inflation comparedDemand-pull inflationCost-push inflationThe quantity theory of money and inflation expectationsThe costs of inflationPolicies to control inflationDeflation and the deflationary spiral
The Balance of Payments
Topic overviewThe balance of payments accountsThe current account and its four componentsThe capital and financial accountsWhy the balance of payments sums to zeroCauses of current account imbalancesThe terms of trade and the current accountThe consequences of a deficit or a surplusPolicies to correct a current account deficit
Control of the National Debt
Topic overviewDeficits, surpluses and the national debtMeasurement of the deficit and the debtStructural and cyclical deficitsDiscretionary policy and automatic stabilisersThe cost of servicing debt and credit ratingsRefinancing, confidence and market disciplineCrowding out and the effect of debt on growthAusterity in a downturn and whether debt is always bad
Fiscal Policy
Topic overviewThe budget and the fiscal stanceGovernment spending and where it goesTaxation and the sources of government revenueDirect and indirect taxesFiscal policy, aggregate demand and AD/AS analysisThe Keynesian case for demand side fiscal policyCriticisms of demand side fiscal policyThe Laffer curve and tax ratesSupply side fiscal policy
Monetary Policy and Financial Stability
Topic overviewThe Bank of England and monetary stabilityThe inflation target and the Bank of England remitThe Monetary Policy Committee and how Bank Rate is setThe transmission mechanism of monetary policyInterest rates, aggregate demand and inflationInterest rates and the exchange rateEvaluating interest rates as a policy toolQuantitative easing and how it worksThe risks of quantitative easing and its unwindingDirect intervention in bank lendingThe financial sector and the real economyAsset bubbles and the financial crisis of 2007-08Systemic risk, moral hazard and the lender of last resortRegulating the financial systemUK economic turning points since 1990
Exchange Rates and Supply Side Policies
Topic overviewExchange rate determination in a free marketFactors that cause a currency to appreciate or depreciateThe exchange rate index and effects on households and firmsExchange rates, aggregate demand and the macroeconomic objectivesManaged floats, fixed rates and central bank interventionThe terms of trade and the Marshall-Lerner conditionSupply side policies and long-run aggregate supplyMarket-based and interventionist supply side policiesEvaluating supply side policies
International Trade and Protectionism
Topic overviewWhy countries tradeAbsolute and comparative advantageCalculating comparative advantageThe gains from trade and the terms of tradeLimits and criticisms of comparative advantageThe case for free tradeThe case against free tradeTariffs and their effectsQuotas, subsidies and other methods of protectionThe arguments for and against protectionism
Globalisation and the UK in the World Economy
Topic overviewWhat globalisation is and what drives itThe benefits of globalisationThe costs of globalisationThe United Kingdom in the world economyThe World Trade OrganisationEconomic problems of developed, developing and emerging economiesThe European Union and the single marketThe advantages and disadvantages of membershipEnlargement of the European UnionEconomic and monetary union and the euroOptimal currency areas and the European Central Bank
Economic Development
Topic overviewWhat economic development meansNational income as a measure of developmentPurchasing power parity and comparing countriesThe Human Development IndexOther indicators of developmentEconomic structure and developmentObstacles: health, education and populationObstacles: capital, infrastructure and institutionsObstacles: trade, resources and external conditionsSolutions: liberalisation and foreign investmentSolutions: aid and debt reliefSolutions: industrialisation strategies
Elasticities of Demand and Supply
- 9 subtopics
- 27 things to know
- All three components
What Elasticities of Demand and Supply covers
Elasticities of Demand and Supply is examined in Microeconomics — assessed across all three components. It covers price elasticity of demand and its calculation, what determines price elasticity of demand, price elasticity of demand and total revenue, elasticity along a straight-line demand curve, income elasticity of demand, normal and inferior goods, cross price elasticity of demand, substitutes and complements, price elasticity of supply and its determinants, elasticity and the incidence of taxes and subsidies and elasticity in decision-making by firms and government.
Where it is assessed
All three components
Microeconomics, assessed across Components 1, 2 and 3.
Check the Eduqas specification ↗The 9 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Price elasticity of demand and its calculationPrice elasticity of demand, difference between price elastic and price inelastic demand and unit elastic demand.Open →
- What determines price elasticity of demandSubstitutes, necessity, the share of income a purchase absorbs, habit and addiction, and above all the time consumers have to react.Open →
- Price elasticity of demand and total revenueWhy a train operator might charge more at peak times and why supermarkets discount goods with price elastic demand.Open →
- Elasticity along a straight-line demand curveWhy a curve of constant slope has an elasticity that changes at every point, where it equals one, and what that means for total revenue.Open →
- Income elasticity of demand, normal and inferior goodsIncome elasticity of demand and inferior goods.Open →
- Cross price elasticity of demand, substitutes and complementsCross price elasticity of demand, two goods with a strongly positive cross price elasticity and two goods with a strongly negative cross price elasticity.Open →
- Price elasticity of supply and its determinantsSpare capacity, stock levels, the mobility of factors and the length of the production period — and why supply is almost always more elastic in the long run.Open →
- Elasticity and the incidence of taxes and subsidiesIncidence of a tax, specific tax and ad valorem tax.Open →
- Elasticity in decision-making by firms and governmentHow a firm uses elasticity to price and a government to tax, and why an inelastic good raises revenue while doing little to change behaviour.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
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How do the income elasticities of a necessity and a luxury differ?
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Define price elasticity of demand.
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How is total revenue calculated when judging the effect of a price change?
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Does price elasticity of demand stay the same along a straight-line demand curve?
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Define cross price elasticity of demand.
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Define price elasticity of supply.
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What is meant by the incidence of a tax?
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How does knowledge of elasticity help a firm set its pricing strategy?
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State the formula for price elasticity of demand.
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How does the availability of substitutes affect price elasticity of demand?
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What happens to total revenue when price rises and demand is price elastic?
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Where on a straight-line demand curve is demand price elastic?
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Define income elasticity of demand.
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State the formula for cross price elasticity of demand.
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State the formula for price elasticity of supply.
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What is a specific tax?
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How does elasticity affect a firm's decision to advertise?
Numbers
Price rises from £5.00 to £6.00 and quantity demanded falls from 400 to 360. Calculate price elasticity of demand.
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How does the proportion of income spent on a good affect its price elasticity of demand?
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What happens to total revenue when price falls and demand is price elastic?
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Where on a straight-line demand curve is demand price inelastic?
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State the formula for income elasticity of demand.
Numbers
The price of tea rises from £2.00 to £2.40 and demand for coffee rises from 300 to 330. Calculate cross price elasticity of demand.
Numbers
Price rises from £4.00 to £4.60 and quantity supplied rises from 800 to 1,040. Calculate price elasticity of supply.
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What is an ad valorem tax?
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How does elasticity guide a firm deciding whether to launch a new product variant?
Take Elasticities of Demand and Supply further
The same content, four other ways.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Define price elasticity of demand.
Model answer
Price elasticity of demand measures the responsiveness of quantity demanded to a change in the price of the good itself. The coefficient is normally negative for a downward-sloping demand curve.
- 2
State the formula for price elasticity of demand.
Model answer
Price elasticity of demand equals the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price. A minus sign normally appears because the two changes move in opposite directions.
- 3
Price rises from £5.00 to £6.00 and quantity demanded falls from 400 to 360. Calculate price elasticity of demand.
Model answer
Quantity demanded falls by 10% and price rises by 20%, so price elasticity of demand is −0.5. Demand is price inelastic over that range.
- 4
Price falls from £10 to £8 and quantity demanded rises from 200 to 260. Calculate price elasticity of demand.
Model answer
Quantity demanded rises by 30% and price falls by 20%, so price elasticity of demand is −1.5. Demand is price elastic over that range.
- 5
Price rises from £2.00 to £2.20 and quantity demanded falls from 500 to 450. Calculate price elasticity of demand.
Model answer
Quantity demanded falls by 10% and price rises by 10%, so price elasticity of demand is −1. Demand is unit elastic over that range.
- 6
What does a price elasticity of demand of zero mean?
Model answer
A coefficient of zero means quantity demanded does not change at all when price changes. Demand is perfectly price inelastic and the demand curve is vertical.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Elasticities of Demand and Supply revision questions
- What does Elasticities of Demand and Supply cover in Eduqas A-Level Economics?
- 9 subtopics: price elasticity of demand and its calculation, what determines price elasticity of demand, price elasticity of demand and total revenue, elasticity along a straight-line demand curve, income elasticity of demand, normal and inferior goods, cross price elasticity of demand, substitutes and complements, price elasticity of supply and its determinants, elasticity and the incidence of taxes and subsidies and elasticity in decision-making by firms and government. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Elasticities of Demand and Supply organised?
- By the Eduqas A520QS specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Elasticities of Demand and Supply, on a schedule.
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