Q.(OR) What do you understand by market supply? Describe the determinant elements of supply.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Market supply is the total quantity all sellers offer at each price; it depends on the good's own price, input prices, technology, prices of other goods, taxes/subsidies, the number of firms, and firms' goals and expectations.
Meaning of Market Supply:
Supply means the quantity of a commodity that a seller is willing and able to offer for sale at a given price during a given period of time (not merely the stock available). Market supply is the total quantity of the commodity that all the firms (sellers) in the market are willing to offer for sale at various prices during a given period. It is obtained by adding (horizontally) the quantities supplied by all the individual firms at each price. Supply is a flow and is always stated with reference to a price and a period of time. According to the law of supply, other things being equal, a higher price induces a larger quantity supplied, so the supply curve slopes upward.
Determinant Elements of Supply:
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Price of the commodity itself — This is the most important determinant. Normally, the higher the price, the greater the quantity supplied, and vice versa (law of supply), because higher prices make production more profitable. (A change in the good's own price causes a movement along the supply curve.)
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Prices of inputs (factors of production) — If the prices of inputs such as raw materials, wages and fuel rise, the cost of production increases and supply falls (the supply curve shifts left); a fall in input prices increases supply.
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State of technology — An improvement in technology lowers the cost of production and raises productivity, so supply increases (shift to the right); outdated technology reduces supply.
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Prices of other (related) goods — If the price of some other good that the firm could produce rises, the firm may shift resources to producing that good, reducing the supply of the given good.
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Government policy (taxes and subsidies) — Higher taxes (excise/GST) raise the cost and reduce supply, while subsidies lower the cost and increase supply.
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