Understanding Price Elasticity of Demand (PED)
Price elasticity of demand measures how sensitive quantity demanded is to changes in price. When calculating PED, we use a specific formula that typically yields a negative value due to the inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded, following the Law of Demand.
Definition: Price Elasticity of Demand (PED) = Percentage change in quantity demanded / Percentage change in price
The determinants of price elasticity of demand include several key factors. The availability of substitutes significantly impacts elasticity - products with many alternatives tend to be more elastic. Income levels affect how sensitive consumers are to price changes, while necessity versus luxury status determines the degree of elasticity. Essential items like medicine typically have inelastic demand, while luxury goods show more elastic demand patterns.
Understanding the degrees of elasticity helps analyze market behavior. When demand is perfectly elastic, consumers are extremely sensitive to price changes, represented by a horizontal demand curve. Conversely, perfectly inelastic demand shows no response to price changes, appearing as a vertical line on graphs. Most real-world products fall somewhere between these extremes.
Example: A rise in insulin prices leads to minimal change in quantity demanded due to its necessity for diabetic patients, demonstrating inelastic demand. Conversely, a small price increase in designer clothing may cause a large drop in demand, showing elastic demand.