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Income & Substitution Effects:Determining the Market Demand Curve

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Microeconomics ­ECO402
VU
Lesson 11
Income & Substitution Effects
A fall in the price of a good has two effects: Substitution & Income
­Substitution Effect
·Consumers will tend to buy more of the good that has become relatively cheaper,
and less of the good that is now relatively more expensive.
­ Income Effect
·  Consumers experience an increase in real purchasing power when the price of one
good falls.
Substitution Effect
­ The substitution effect is the change in an item's consumption associated with a
change in the price of the item, with the level of utility held constant.
­ When the price of an item declines, the substitution effect always leads to an increase
in the quantity of the item demanded.
Income Effect
­ The income effect is the change in an item's consumption brought about by the
increase in purchasing power, with the price of the item held constant.
­ When a person's income increases, the quantity demanded for the product may
increase or decrease.
­ Even with inferior goods, the income effect is rarely large enough to outweigh the
substitution effect.
Income & Substitution Effects: Normal Good
Clothing
When the price of food falls,
(units per
consumption increases by F1F2 as
month)
R
the consumer moves from A to B.
The substitution effect,F1E,
(from point A to D), changes the
relative prices but keeps real income
C1
A
(satisfaction) constant.
The income effect, EF2,
( from D to B) keeps relative
prices constant but
D
B
increases purchasing power.
C2
U2
Substitution
U1
Effect
Food (units
O
F1
E
S
F2
T
per month)
Total Effect
Income Effect
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Microeconomics ­ECO402
VU
Clothing
(units per
Since food is an
inferior good, the
month) R
income effect is
negative. However,
the substitution effect
A
is larger than the
income effect.
D
Substitution
Effect
U1
Food (units
O
E S
T
F1
F2
per month)
A Special Case--The Giffen Good
­
The income effect may theoretically be large enough to cause the demand curve for a
good to slope upward.
­
This rarely occurs and is of little practical interest.
Effect of a Gasoline Tax with a Rebate
Assume
­Ped = -0.5
­Income = $9,000
­ Price of gasoline = $1
Expenditures
On Other
After Gasoline Tax
Goods ($)
F
Plus Rebate
·
A
$.50 Excise Tax
·
Gasoline = 900
·
$450 REBATE
·
New budget line
H
C
After
Gasoline = 1200 gallons
E
Other expenditures = $7800
Gasoline
Tax
U2
U3
U1
Original Budget
Line
Gasoline Consumption
D
J
B
900 913.5 1200
(gallons/year)
53
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Microeconomics ­ECO402
VU
Market Demand
Market Demand Curves
­ A curve that relates the quantity of a good that all consumers in a market buy to the
price of that good.
Determining the Market Demand Curve
Price
Individual A
Individual B Individual C
Market
($)
(units)
(units)
(units)
(units)
1
6
10
16
32
2
4
8
13
25
3
2
6
10
18
4
0
4
7
11
5
0
2
4
6
Summing to Obtain a Market Demand Curve
Price
5
4
3
2
1
DA
Quantity
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Price
5
4
3
2
1
DB
Quantity
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
54
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Microeconomics ­ECO402
VU
Price
5
4
3
2
1
DC
Quantity
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Price
5
The market demand
curve is obtained by
summing the consumer's
4
demand curves
3
Market Demand
2
1
DA
DB
DC
Quantity
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Two Important Points
1) The market demand will shift to the right as more consumers enter
the market.
2) Factors that influence the demands of many consumers will also affect the market
demand.
Elasticity of Demand
Recall: Price elasticity of demand measures the percentage change in the quantity
demanded resulting from a 1-percent change in price.
Δ Q/Q
ΔQ / ΔP
EP =
=
Δ P/P
Q/P
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Microeconomics ­ECO402
VU
Price Elasticity and Consumer Expenditure
Demand
If Price Increases,
If Price Decreases,
Expenditures:
Expenditures:
Inelastic(Ep <1)
Increase
Decrease
Unit Elastic (Ep = 1)
Are unchanged
Are unchanged
Elastic (Ep >1)
Decrease
Increase
Point Elasticity of Demand
­
For large price changes (e.g. 20%), the value of elasticity will depend upon where the
price and quantity lie on the demand curve.
­
Point elasticity measures elasticity at a point on the demand curve.
­
Its formula is:
EP = (P/Q)(1/slope)
Problems Using Point Elasticity
­
We may need to calculate price elasticity over portion of the demand curve rather than
at a single point.
­ The price and quantity used as the base will alter the price elasticity of demand.
Point Elasticity of Demand: An Example
­Assume
·  Price increases from 8$ to $10 quantity demanded falls from 6 to 4
·  Percent change in price equals: $2/$8 = 25% or $2/$10 = 20%
·  Percent change in quantity equals: -2/6 = -33.33% or -2/4 = -50%
Elasticity equals:
-33.33/.25 = -1.33 or -.50/.20 = -2.54
­Which one is correct?
Arc Elasticity of Demand
­ Arc elasticity calculates elasticity over a range of prices
­ Its formula is:
E  P = ( Δ Q/ Δ P)( P / Q )
P = the averag e price
Q = the averag e quantity
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Microeconomics ­ECO402
VU
Arc Elasticity of Demand: An Example
EP = ( ΔQ/ΔP)( P / Q )
P1 = 8, P   2 = 10, Q1 = 6, Q   2 = 4
P = 18 / 2 = 9 & Q = 10 / 2 = 5
Ep = ( -2 / $2)($9 / 5) = -1.8
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Table of Contents:
  1. ECONOMICS:Themes of Microeconomics, Theories and Models
  2. Economics: Another Perspective, Factors of Production
  3. REAL VERSUS NOMINAL PRICES:SUPPLY AND DEMAND, The Demand Curve
  4. Changes in Market Equilibrium:Market for College Education
  5. Elasticities of supply and demand:The Demand for Gasoline
  6. Consumer Behavior:Consumer Preferences, Indifference curves
  7. CONSUMER PREFERENCES:Budget Constraints, Consumer Choice
  8. Note it is repeated:Consumer Preferences, Revealed Preferences
  9. MARGINAL UTILITY AND CONSUMER CHOICE:COST-OF-LIVING INDEXES
  10. Review of Consumer Equilibrium:INDIVIDUAL DEMAND, An Inferior Good
  11. Income & Substitution Effects:Determining the Market Demand Curve
  12. The Aggregate Demand For Wheat:NETWORK EXTERNALITIES
  13. Describing Risk:Unequal Probability Outcomes
  14. PREFERENCES TOWARD RISK:Risk Premium, Indifference Curve
  15. PREFERENCES TOWARD RISK:Reducing Risk, The Demand for Risky Assets
  16. The Technology of Production:Production Function for Food
  17. Production with Two Variable Inputs:Returns to Scale
  18. Measuring Cost: Which Costs Matter?:Cost in the Short Run
  19. A Firm’s Short-Run Costs ($):The Effect of Effluent Fees on Firms’ Input Choices
  20. Cost in the Long Run:Long-Run Cost with Economies & Diseconomies of Scale
  21. Production with Two Outputs--Economies of Scope:Cubic Cost Function
  22. Perfectly Competitive Markets:Choosing Output in Short Run
  23. A Competitive Firm Incurring Losses:Industry Supply in Short Run
  24. Elasticity of Market Supply:Producer Surplus for a Market
  25. Elasticity of Market Supply:Long-Run Competitive Equilibrium
  26. Elasticity of Market Supply:The Industry’s Long-Run Supply Curve
  27. Elasticity of Market Supply:Welfare loss if price is held below market-clearing level
  28. Price Supports:Supply Restrictions, Import Quotas and Tariffs
  29. The Sugar Quota:The Impact of a Tax or Subsidy, Subsidy
  30. Perfect Competition:Total, Marginal, and Average Revenue
  31. Perfect Competition:Effect of Excise Tax on Monopolist
  32. Monopoly:Elasticity of Demand and Price Markup, Sources of Monopoly Power
  33. The Social Costs of Monopoly Power:Price Regulation, Monopsony
  34. Monopsony Power:Pricing With Market Power, Capturing Consumer Surplus
  35. Monopsony Power:THE ECONOMICS OF COUPONS AND REBATES
  36. Airline Fares:Elasticities of Demand for Air Travel, The Two-Part Tariff
  37. Bundling:Consumption Decisions When Products are Bundled
  38. Bundling:Mixed Versus Pure Bundling, Effects of Advertising
  39. MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION:Monopolistic Competition in the Market for Colas and Coffee
  40. OLIGOPOLY:Duopoly Example, Price Competition
  41. Competition Versus Collusion:The Prisoners’ Dilemma, Implications of the Prisoners
  42. COMPETITIVE FACTOR MARKETS:Marginal Revenue Product
  43. Competitive Factor Markets:The Demand for Jet Fuel
  44. Equilibrium in a Competitive Factor Market:Labor Market Equilibrium
  45. Factor Markets with Monopoly Power:Monopoly Power of Sellers of Labor