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Diploma in Higher Education Studies

Price elasticity of demand

HES 202 · Introductory Economics — Week 6 of 16

CourseHES 202
Week6 of 16
SemesterII
TutorOnline in the course chat

This week’s topics

Price elasticity of demand

  1. Elastic and inelastic products
  2. Why it matters for prices

What you will be able to do

  • 2.1 Explain the concept of elastic and inelastic demand.

Activity

Sort products into elastic and inelastic, with reasons.

Study materials

Further resources

  • Principles of Economics 3e, ch. 5.1: Price elasticity of demand and supply · PDF · OpenStax (2022); pp. 110–114 · for registered students
  • Principles of Economics 3e, ch. 5.3: Elasticity and pricing · PDF · OpenStax (2022), why elasticity matters for prices; pp. 118–125 · for registered students
  • Demand for gasoline is more price-inelastic than commonly thought · Open-access article · Havranek et al. (2012), Energy Economics. Short meta-analysis of petrol price elasticity: a clear real-world case of an inelastic product. · for registered students
  • Using Big Data to Estimate Consumer Surplus: The Case of Uber · Open-access article · Cohen et al. (2016), NBER Working Paper 22627. Shows how sensitive riders are to surge prices: elasticity in a real market. · for registered students
Materials marked “for registered students” open in the student portal, which is set up as soon as you receive final acceptance.
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Course plan
  • Week 1: What is economics? Scarcity and choice
  • Week 2: Demand: how buyers behave
  • Week 3: Supply: how sellers behave
  • Week 4: Market equilibrium
  • Week 5: When demand or supply changes
  • Week 6: Price elasticity of demand
  • Week 7: Calculating elasticity
  • Midterm: Midterm evaluation
  • Week 9: Measuring the economy: GDP
  • Week 10: Inflation and unemployment
  • Week 11: Reading economic data
  • Week 12: Perfect competition
  • Week 13: Monopoly
  • Week 14: Markets in real life
  • Week 15: Review and coursework completion
  • Final: Final assessment and submission
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