Discuss the meaning and importance of the concept of elasticity in Essay

Discuss the meaning and importance of the concept of elasticity in microeconomic reasoning - Essay Example n help economists ascertain whether it would be more profitable to increase or decrease the price of a particular product based on price elasticity of demand. Elasticity helps determine if a good is of inferior quality or normal quality based on price elasticity of demand. An inferior quality product is consumed less if the consumers’ income increasing while a normal quality product has higher consumption along with rising income of the consumer. Similarly, Elasticity can help decide whether the products are compliments or supplements. The difference between the two is that with complimentary goods the demand for one leads to demand for another of the same product, while supplementary goods are those that guide to less demand for another product. Cross price elasticity of demand determines if a product is a compliment or supplement. And lastly, price elasticity of demand can help economists find out whether her a supplier e.g. a farmer, will have the capability to suddenly inc rease their supply. Farmers and other agricultural goods producers have low price elasticity of supply as it takes them a long time to increase their supplies because their supplies take a long time to produce. So, in short, elasticity is used when economists want to know how something changes in relation to a change in another. The concept of elasticity is an integral part of the theory of microeconomics. Law of demand tells us that an increase in the price of a product leads to a decrease in its demand. Here, Elasticity can tell us how much demand will decrease for every one per cent increase in price. An elasticity of 1 or higher is â€Å"elastic†. While inelastic refers to products that remain on constant demand no matter what their price