Demand Function and the Concept of Elasticity
To understand demand in economics, we first look at the demand function.
A demand function shows that the quantity demanded of a good depends on its price, while other factors remain constant.
This relationship is written as X₁ = f(P₁).
If we reverse it as P₁ = f(X₁), it tells us something important — the maximum price a consumer is willing to pay for a given quantity rather than going without it.
But there is a limitation here.
The slope of the demand function shows how much quantity changes when price changes, yet it depends on units of measurement like kilograms, litres, or tons.
To remove this problem, economists use the concept of elasticity.
Elasticity measures how strongly demand responds when price, income, or the price of related goods changes.
Based on this idea, demand elasticity is mainly studied in three forms:
own price elasticity, cross price elasticity, and income elasticity of demand.
Interestingly, the concept of elasticity is borrowed from physics, where it describes how strongly one variable responds when another variable changes.
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