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Q.Point out the importance of Price Elasticity of Demand.

Telangana TsbieTSBIE Telangana Intermediate (1st Year) Commerce Board 2023Subjective· 5mImportance★★★★★
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Price elasticity of demand (the responsiveness of quantity demanded to a change in price) is of great practical importance. It guides pricing by firms and monopolists, taxation and subsidy policy of government, pricing of public utilities and joint products, the farmer's paradox, wage bargaining, and international trade decisions.

Meaning

Price elasticity of demand measures the degree of responsiveness of quantity demanded to a change in the price of a good. It is expressed as the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price.

Importance / uses

  • Price fixation by producers and monopolists: a seller charges a high price for a good with inelastic demand and a lower price for a good with elastic demand, in order to maximise total revenue.
  • Government taxation policy: the finance minister imposes heavy taxes on goods with inelastic demand (like cigarettes, petrol) because the tax yields high revenue without greatly reducing sales.
  • Grant of subsidies: elasticity helps decide which necessities with elastic demand deserve subsidies to make them affordable.
  • Pricing of public utilities: services like electricity and railways use the concept to charge different prices to different users (price discrimination).
  • Paradox of poverty amid plenty: a bumper harvest lowers the price of farm goods sharply because demand for them is inelastic, so farmers' incomes fall - elasticity explains this.
  • Joint and related products: it helps fix the relative prices of jointly supplied goods. …

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